After dismissing Australia A for 379 on Day 1, Sri Lanka A began their first innings hoping to get a sizable lead to put the visitors under pressure. However, the Australia A spinners Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann shared 6 wickets between them to end Day 2 with more honors.
Nuwanidu Fernando who continued his rich form from the Emerging Tour of England scored a brilliant 86, which included 11 fours and a six. On his way to 86, Nuwanidu constructed a well-made 93-run stand for the 5th wicket with Lahiru Udara, who also scored a 50.
The rest of the Sri Lankan batters got starts but failed to capitalize as none were able to pass the 30 run mark. Todd Murphy, who was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors, took 4 for 52, while Matthew Kuhnemann, who earned a call-up to the Australian ODI side in place of Ashton Agar who got injured, supported him very well by taking 2 for 41.
With all the regular batters back in the pavilion Sri Lanka A were on 250 for the loss of 8 wickets when bad light interrupted the match and no play was possible after the 71st over. With the last 2 wickets remaining Sri Lanka A will be hoping that the tail would wag and minimize the current deficit of 129.
The third day of the encounter is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 10.00AM.
