Cricket: Ton-up Jayawardene gives Sri Lanka upper hand

DUBAI, January 9, 2014 (AFP) - Mahela Jayawardene defied a left-hand webbing injury to notch his 32nd century and Kaushal Silva missed his by five runs as Sri Lanka gained an upper hand over Pakistan in the second Test in Dubai on Thursday.









Pakistan's bowling woes were highlighted by Ajmal's failure for a second successive innings. He went wicketless in 49 second innings overs of the first Test and once again failed to make an impact in his 27 overs.

Pakistan's bowling coach Mohammad Akram said they tried everything but couldn't get Jayawardene out.

"The pitch was different from the first day and our bowlers tried every thing but we couldn't get Mahela who played a very good knock," said Akram.

The third and final Test will be played in Sharjah from January 16.

Jayawardene, who received three stitches after he dropped a catch on Wednesday, scored 106 not out and shared an invaluable 139-run partnership with Silva (95) to guide Sri Lanka to 318-4 at close on the second day.

Sri Lanka have gained an important 153 runs lead over Pakistan's first innings score of 165 and a chance to take a lead in the three-Test series after the first match ended in a draw in Abu Dhabi last week.

Jayawardene, grimacing while playing st