An unbroken century stand between Brian Chari and Craig Ervine gave Zimbabwe a solid start after Asela Gunaratne's maiden Test hundred had carried Sri Lanka to 504 on the second day of the second Test at Harare Sports Club on Monday. Playing just his second Test, Gunaratne scored 116 to marshal the tail to good effect and frustrate the Zimbabwean bowlers, before his dismissal brought the end of the Sri Lankan innings on the stroke of tea.
When Rangana Herath opened the bowling and grabbed the wickets of Tino Mawoyo and Hamilton Masakadza to reduce Zimbabwe to 17 for two, the hosts looked to be embarking on one of their trademark batting collapses. But Chari and Ervine added 109 for the third wicket without being parted, taking Zimbabwe to stumps on 126 for two with both batsmen closing the day on 60 not out.
"We would have liked to have a few more wickets down but hopefully we can grab a few early on tomorrow," said Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford. "We've seen Rangana turn some deliveries this evening, so once he gets a few going he becomes more of a factor." The tourists began the day on 290 for five, with Gunaratne on 13, and despite losing centurion Dhananjaya de Silva they were able to make rapid progress during the morning session.
De Silva was caught and bowled by leg-spinner Graeme Cremer for 127, before Gunaratne added 54 for the seventh wicket with Dilruwan Perera at a swift rate. Perera was then trapped lbw by Cremer for 34, but Gunaratne went to lunch on 64 having helped Sri Lanka add 124 runs in the session. After lunch the 30-year-old increased his rate of scoring further in a 75-run stand for the eighth wicket with captain Rangana Herath, who made 27. Seamer Donald Tiripano had Herath caught behind and then bowled Suranga Lakmal, but No 11 Lahiru Kumara held on long enough for Gunaratne to reach three figures and carry the score past 500.

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Sri Lanka first innings
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D. Karunaratne c Williams b Masakadza        26
K. Silva lbw b Mpofu                         37
K. Perera c Mumba b Masakadza                 4
K. Mendis c Moor b Tiripano                  26
U. Tharanga c Masakadza b Cremer             79
D. de Silva c & b Cremer                    127
A. Gunaratne st Moor b Williams             116
D. Perera lbw b Cremer                       34
R. Herath c Moor b Tiripano                  27
S. Lakmal b Tiripano                          0
L. Kumara not out                             7
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Extras: (9b, 8lb, 2w, 2nb)                   21
Total: (all out, 144.4 overs)               504
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Fall of wickets: 1-62 (Karunaratne), 2-66 (K. Perera), 3-84 (Silva), 4-112 (Mendis), 5-255 (Tharanga), 6-342 (de Silva), 7-396 (D. Perera), 8-471 (Herath), 9-471 (Lakmal), 10-504 (Gunaratne)
Bowling: Mumba 23-4-80-0, Tiripano 32-4-91-3, Mpofu 23-4-92-1, Masakadza 13-4-34-2, Cremer 40-1-136-3, Williams 8.4-1-31-1, Waller 5-0-23-0

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Zimbabwe first innings
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T. Mawoyo lbw b Herath                        3
B. Chari not out                             60
H. Masakadza c de Silva b Herath              0
C. Ervine not out                            60
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Extras: (2b, 1lb)                             3
Total: (2 wkts, 35 overs)                   126
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Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Mawoyo), 2-17 (Masakadza)
Still to bat: S. Williams, M. Waller, P. Moor, G. Cremer, D. Tiripano, C. Mumba, C. Mpofu
Bowling: Lakmal 9-1-23-0, Herath 11-1-44-2, Kumara 6-0-24-0, D. Perera 6-1-23-0, Gunaratne 2-0-5-0, De Silva 1-0-4-0
Toss: Zimbabwe
Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Simon Fry (AUS)
TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (SA)
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)Series: Sri Lanka leads two-match series 1-0.