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Jayawardene hits ton, Sri Lanka 587/3 at tea

Colombo, Jul 27 (PTI) Mahela Jayawardene registered his 28th century as Sri Lanka continued to dominate against a toothless Indian bowling attack to pile up an imposing 587 for three at tea on the second day of the second cricket Test here today. Jayawardene was unbeaten on 143 at tea while giving him company was Thilan Samarweera (50) as the duo notched up an unbeaten 121-run fourth wicket partnership on a docile Sinhalese Sports Club wicket. Jayawardene's 178-ball ton came in 251 minutes and was studded with with 12 boundaries while Samarweera hit seven fours en route his fifty. Earlier, Virender Sehwag removed Kumar Sangakkara just after the lunch, but not before the Sri Lankan captain registered his seventh double century. Sangakkara made 219 before Rahul Dravid took a sharp catch at slip off Sehwag to give India a rare moment of joy. Sangakkara scored his runs in 335 balls and was laced with 29 hits to the boundary. The Sri Lankan captain was also involved in a 193-run partnership with Jayawardene. After Sangakkara's departure, new man in Samaraweera quickly got into the groove as he turned away a Pragyan Ojha delivery between slip and backward point for his first boundary. He then hit a Harbhajan Singh's short and wide delivery to the fence. On the other hand, Jayawardene looked composed and negotiated the Indian bowlers with ease. Bruised and battered by the Lankan batters, the Indians committed numerous errors in the field as Jayawardene and Samarweera stepped up the accelerator to enable their captain declare after a safe first innings total. Jayawardene and Samarweera's 100-run stand came off just 137 balls as the two capitalised on the listless Indian attack. Jayawardene treated Indian bowlers with disdain as he dispatched Abhimanyu Mithun over the long-on boundary. Earlier, Sangakkara's seventh double century came in 301 balls with 27 hits to the boundary. The fact that 400 runs for Sri Lanka came in a record 435 minutes and 651 balls testified to a placid pitch and some lackluster bowling from the Indians. It was an ominous start to the proceedings for India as Sangakkara hammered two consecutive boundaries of Mithun in the first over of the second day. The 50-run partnership with his deputy Jayawardene came off 117 balls. Making their intentions clear to pile up as much as possible to make India bat again and prise out a result, the Sri Lankan batsmen continued their onslaught against the insipid Indian bowling. The 100-run stand for the third wicket between the duo came off 188 balls.