Galle: Pacer Yash Thakur and off-spinner Saransh Jain took two wickets apiece but Sri Lanka A rode on skipper Sahan Arachchige’s unbeaten 83 to reach 288 for 5 in 85 overs on the opening day of the second unofficial ‘Test’ against India ‘A’ here on Thursday.
While Arachchige’s 148-ball innings had nine fours and a six, he enjoyed a 99-run stand for the fifth wicket with keeper Anjala Bandara (42), who was bowled by off-break bowler Jain.
Apart from Thakur (2/32 in 14 overs) and Jain (2/77 in 24 overs), lanky speedster Gurnoor Brar (1/49 in 15 overs) also got a wicket while Zeeshan Ansari, playing his first red ball game after a gap of six years, gave away 64 in his 16 wicketless overs.
On a slow Galle track, picking up wickets wasn’t an easy proposition as Sri Lanka A openers Pawantha Weerasinghe (39) and Sohan di Livera (28) added 53 for the opening stand.
It was Thakur who got left-handed Di Livera to edge one to Devdutt Padikkal in the slip cordon.
Weerasinghe, the other southpaw, had done all the hardwork to see off the morning session before Brar struck minutes before lunch. He got Weerasinghe to edge one to India A skipper and keeper Dhruv Jurel behind the stumps.
It was Nuwanidu Fernando (44) and Ashen Bandara (34), who also looked set as they added 57 for the third wicket before Jain had the former caught by Padikkal.
Ashen was dismissed when he edged one to Jurel off Thakur, who came in as second change, bowling well with the semi-new and subsequently the old ball.
Auqib Nabi (0/50 in 15 overs) for the second match in a row didn’t look potent with the new ball and was easily negotiated by the Lanka A openers.
Brar was way more quicker and was able to bowl the effort deliveries, although he didn’t get anything more than a solitary success.
The biggest disappointment was Ansari, a surprise pick by the national selection committee based on his net bowling. Ansari’s lack of preparedness was singularly evident as he bowled a lot of long hops and half trackers which hardly troubled the batters with his leg break. He was also taken to the cleaners on a few occasions.
Brief Scores:
Sri Lanka A 1st Innings: 288/5 (Sahan Arachchige 83 batting, Nuwanidu Fernando 44, Anjala Bandara 42, Yash Thakur 2/32, Saransh Jain 2/77, Gurnoor Brar 1/49).
