Sri Lanka given a fright but seal win.

(From The Journal)

BANGLADESH gave Sri Lanka a scare but a late collapse denied them a shot at the most unlikely of Test victories in Dhaka.

Having been set a daunting target of 521 by the tourists, Bangladesh - led by Mohammad Ashraful's outstanding century - briefly looked capable of making a fight of it as they reached lunch on day five at 373-6.

But after Shakib Al Hasan went four runs shy of his own ton, Sri Lanka swept up the Bangladesh tail at a cost of just 10 runs to wrap up victory in this first of two Tests by 107 runs.

Last night, skipper Mohammad Ashraful and Shakib Al Hasan put on 74 before stumps and continued in the same vein this morning, adding another 38 before Ashraful was finally removed.

The 24-year-old lofted a Chaminda Vaas delivery over midoff for four to reach his century but perished for 101 in Vaas' next over when he was caught low on the pad by a ball headed for middle and leg stump. But Shakib and ...