Vice-captain Umar Amin made a patient 99 to lead the Pakistan A batting effort against Sri Lanka A in their 1st unofficial Test match which commenced on Wednesday at R. Premadasa Stadium.
The start of play was delayed by an hour due to overnight rain and Sri Lanka A skipper Ashan Priyanjan had no hesitation to give a chance to his three fast-bowlers an opportunity to bowl on a surface which had some moisture early on. Sri Lanka A picked seven-four combination of seven batsmen, three seamers and a spinner. The visitors had the same mixture of players in their playing XI.
Lankan left-arm seamer Vishwa Fernando struck as early as the 10th over when he got the outside edge of Umar Siddiq for 6 which was neatly snapped up by Kusal Janith Perera when the score was 22. Opener Khurram Manzoor was then joined by left-handed Umar Amin and they negotiated the hosts’ bowling attack for more than a session. Both Pakistan Test discards were involved in a mammoth 135-run stand for the 2nd wicket before Manzoor was trapped LBW by Tharindu Kaushal for a well-compiled 82 from 128 balls. His elegant innings had 9 fours.
Two drop batsman, Ali Asad got off to a solid start making 21 from 56 deliveries but he was the 3rd wicket in the Pakistan A innings when part-time off spinner Dhananjaya De Silva trapped him right in front of his stumps ending a productive 51-run partnership. Umar Amin was very patient in his batting approach and he was looking well-set for a brilliant ton but his dreams were tarnished by Tharindu Kaushal as the left-hander was caught by Ashan Priyanjan with one run short in the 75th over of the innings. Amin’s knock lasted 207 balls and comprised of 7 fours.
Dhananjaya De Silva inflicted more salt to the visitor’s wounds when Ali Waqas was sent back to the pavilion without troubling the scores during the final minutes of day one. Skipper Fawad Alam was unbeaten on 17 when umpires called it a day with the score board reading 244 for 5 in 80 overs.
Chief Scores:
Pakistan A – 244/5 in 80 overs: Khurram Manzoor 82, Umar Amin 99, Tharindu Kaushal 2/76, Dhananjaya De Silva 2/28.
