Vaas, Muralitharan wreck Windies

KANDY, NOV. 24. Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas shared eight wickets to put the West Indies under pressure in the second Test here on Saturday. The West Indies collapsed to 191 in reply to its rivals' 288 on the fourth day.

Sri Lankan openers Sanath Jayasuriya (55) and Marvan Atapattu (58 not out) then pressed home the advantage given by their bowlers to propel their team to 128 for one, a lead of 225 runs.

Skipper Jayasuriya struck eight boundaries in his half-century and Atapattu five as they put on 89 for the opening wicket.

Brian Lara alone defied an incisive Sri Lankan spin- pace combination to score 75 as six batsmen failed to open their account in the first innings.

Muralitharan wrecked the middle order to finish with four for 55, while Vaas made short work of the tailenders to bag four for 57 as the tourists lost their last five wickets for 24 runs.

The Sri Lankan pair, however, failed to put the pressure on an in-form Lara despite striking at regular intervals. Lara, who scored a century in the first Test last week, batted confidently to smash two sixes and eight fours in his 154-ball knock, but received no support from the other end.

Lara was the last man out, trapped leg-before by Muralitharan an hour before the tea interval.

Muralitharan had put the West Indies in trouble with a triple strike in the morning session. He took his first wicket in the day's ninth over when he bowled Ramnaresh Sarwan for 17 after the tourists had resumed at 39 for one.

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Section  : Sport
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