24-year old Dasun Shanaka’s unbeaten 91 helped Sri Lanka finish day one on a strong position against Leicestershire in their tour game which started on Friday at Grace Road.
Number three batsman Kusal Mendis shone once again with 65 but the visitors were struggling at 192 for 8 before Dasun Shanaka (91*) and Rangana Herath (28*) came together to share an unbroken 122 for the ninth wicket as Sri Lanka reached 318 for 8.
Having won the toss and elected to bat, the tourists lost opener Dimuth Karunaratne for a duck in the first over when he was bowled by left-arm paceman Atif Sheikh. They recovered well through Kaushal Silva (38) and Kusal Mendis (65) as they added 101 for the second wicket before the former was dismissed by Rob Sayer.
At 124, Sri Lanka lost their third wicket when Mendis became Sayer’s second victim which triggered a minor collapse. Left-handed Lahiru Thirimanne and Milinda Siriwardena failed to reach double-figures while captain Dinesh Chandimal was bowled by James Sykes off an inside edge after making 30 and off-spinner Jigar Naik trapped Niroshan Dickwella lbw for 19.
Chameera was caught behind for 2 as the visitors were restricted to 192 for 8 but Shanaka and Rangana Herath helped to stage a recovery with the young all-rounder playing the role of aggressor, striking a quartet of fours and two maximums in a 72-ball fifty. Left arm spinner Herath used all of his experience in a determined knock while Shanaka continued to score freely, hitting another six as the stand moved into three figures.
At stumps, Shanaka was on 91 off 115 deliveries with 9 fours and 3 sixes while Herath played out 70 deliveries for his unbeaten 28. Spinners Rob Sayer, Jigar Naik and James Sykes shared five wickets for the Foxes.
Sri Lanka will look to push on in the morning session on day two as they only have another 10 overs left before getting stuck into the Leicestershire batting line-up.
Will this knock guarantee a Test debut for Dasun Shanaka next week? State your opinion below.
