Sangakkara propels Sri Lanka with ninth test century

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Mar 29 (Reuters) Kumar Sangakkara scored his ninth test hundred as Sri Lanka built a formidable lead against Pakistan on the fourth morning of the first test today.

Sangakkara added 75 runs to his overnight total to pave the way for a mid-afternoon declaration, moving to 142 not out at the lunch interval, which the hosts reached on 353 for three wickets.

Sri Lanka avoided any major damage from the second new ball early on the fourth morning as they added 111 runs in the extended 34-over session to stretch their lead to 362.

The one casualty of the morning was skipper Mahela Jayawardene (82), who top-edged an attempted hook off Mohammaed Asif and was caught by Abdul Razzaq running in from the long leg boundary.

Asif's strike with the new ball ended a marathon 158-run partnership that allowed Sri Lanka to take complete control of the game.

Jayawardene's 139-ball innings was laced with 12 fours and one glorious straight six.

Sangakkara had been content to play the anchor role while Jayawardene attacked, but the loss of his captain encouraged him to adopt a more aggressive approach.

The 28-year-old left-hander, who became the seventh Sri Lankan to score more than 4,000 test runs on Tuesday, cracked 17 boundaries in all.

Middle order batsman Thilan Samaraweera, fortunate to survive an lbw appeal off leg spinner Shahid Afridi early on, finished on 25 not out at the interval as the fourth-wicket pair shared an unbroken 68 run stand.

REUTERS PM KP1239