Oshada Fernando (114) and Nishan Madushka (91*) put on 203 to bring Sri Lanka A within 103 runs of the England Lions 1st innings lead on day 2 of the 1st Unofficial Test between the sides at the Galle International Cricket Stadium.
Having been skittled for 136 in the 1st innings, the hosts had an uphill task on day with the Lions building a 331-run lead thanks to a century from debutant Tom Haines. They did so through their opening pair of Fernando and Madushka who batted with assurance on a docile track.
>> Fisher five-for gives Lions advantage against Sri Lanka A
The pair put on 203 in 41.3 overs before Fernando fell for a well-made 114. Madushka remained unbeaten on 91 at stumps alongside nightwatchman Lakshitha Manasinghe. The hosts have still a ways to go before overhauling the Lions total, with Madushka, who has been in tremendous form domestically likely to be the key on day 3.
The Lions’ determination to emulate the senior English side’s aggressive style of play has meant that there is yet plenty of time remaining in the game to force a result in their favour unless the Sri Lankan batters can produce a mammoth 3rd innings total.
With the ball for the hosts, Lasith Embuldeniya and Amshi de Silva did pick up three wickets apiece, however, both went at 5+ runs an over. Embuldeniya in particlaur will be disappointed with the effort as the left-arm spinner has struggled to find rhythm since suffering a finger injury in 2021.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Madushka | lbw b Matt Fisher | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Oshada Fernando | c Jack Haynes b Liam Patterson-White | 21 | 39 | 3 | 0 | 53.85 |
| Nuwanidu Fernando | st Jamie Smith b Liam Patterson-White | 17 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 62.96 |
| Nipun Dhananjaya | c Haseeb Hameed b Sam Cook | 15 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 71.43 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | c Liam Patterson-White b Matt Fisher | 43 | 61 | 7 | 0 | 70.49 |
| Sahan Arachchige | c Jamie Smith b Tom Abell | 3 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 15.00 |
| Dunith Wellalage | c Jamie Smith b Liam Patterson-White | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Lakshitha Manasinghe | c Jamie Smith b Liam Patterson-White | 26 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 96.30 |
| Amshi De Silva | c Jamie Smith b Matt Fisher | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Lasith Embuldeniya | c Jamie Smith b Matt Fisher | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Milan Rathnayake | not out | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Extras | 6 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 5, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 136/10 (35.4 Overs, RR: 3.81) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Cook | 7 | 2 | 17 | 1 | 2.43 | |
| Matt Fisher | 9.4 | 1 | 34 | 5 | 3.62 | |
| Liam Patterson-White | 13 | 1 | 51 | 3 | 3.92 | |
| Tom Abell | 4 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 4.25 | |
| Jack Carson | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Lees | b Lasith Embuldeniya | 56 | 69 | 7 | 1 | 81.16 |
| Haseeb Hameed | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Sahan Arachchige | 81 | 109 | 10 | 0 | 74.31 |
| Tom Haines | c Lahiru Udara b Lakshitha Manasinghe | 118 | 138 | 12 | 1 | 85.51 |
| Tom Abell | lbw b Lasith Embuldeniya | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Josh Bohannon | c Milan Rathnayake b Lasith Embuldeniya | 42 | 50 | 5 | 0 | 84.00 |
| Jack Haynes | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Amshi De Silva | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 123.08 |
| Jamie Smith | b Lakshitha Manasinghe | 22 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 95.65 |
| Liam Patterson-White | c Dunith Wellalage b Amshi De Silva | 41 | 61 | 6 | 0 | 67.21 |
| Matt Fisher | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Milan Rathnayake | 53 | 46 | 2 | 2 | 115.22 |
| Jack Carson | c Nishan Madushka b Amshi De Silva | 4 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Sam Cook | not out | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Extras | 25 (b 7 , lb 12 , nb 5, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 467/10 (87.5 Overs, RR: 5.32) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan Rathnayake | 16.5 | 1 | 81 | 1 | 4.91 | |
| Amshi De Silva | 10 | 0 | 59 | 3 | 5.90 | |
| Lasith Embuldeniya | 30 | 0 | 158 | 3 | 5.27 | |
| Lakshitha Manasinghe | 17 | 1 | 85 | 2 | 5.00 | |
| Sahan Arachchige | 9 | 1 | 44 | 1 | 4.89 | |
| Dunith Wellalage | 5 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 4.20 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Madushka | c Matt Fisher b Jack Carson | 241 | 423 | 25 | 4 | 56.97 |
| Oshada Fernando | c Alex Lees b Liam Patterson-White | 114 | 134 | 18 | 0 | 85.07 |
| Lakshitha Manasinghe | c Sam Cook b Tom Abell | 73 | 107 | 11 | 2 | 68.22 |
| Nuwanidu Fernando | b Jack Carson | 80 | 90 | 11 | 2 | 88.89 |
| Nipun Dhananjaya | b Liam Patterson-White | 128 | 170 | 18 | 1 | 75.29 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | lbw b Jack Carson | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Sahan Arachchige | c Tom Haines b Liam Patterson-White | 4 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 36.36 |
| Dunith Wellalage | run out (Haseeb Hameed) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Amshi De Silva | c & b Jack Carson | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Lasith Embuldeniya | not out | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 22 (b 11 , lb 6 , nb 5, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 663/9 (157.1 Overs, RR: 4.22) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Cook | 19 | 1 | 95 | 0 | 5.00 | |
| Matt Fisher | 15 | 3 | 57 | 0 | 3.80 | |
| Liam Patterson-White | 50 | 7 | 231 | 3 | 4.62 | |
| Jack Carson | 44.1 | 6 | 173 | 4 | 3.92 | |
| Tom Abell | 20 | 7 | 55 | 1 | 2.75 | |
| Tom Haines | 9 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 3.89 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Lees | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Milan Rathnayake | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12.50 |
| Haseeb Hameed | c & b Milan Rathnayake | 15 | 33 | 3 | 0 | 45.45 |
| Tom Haines | c Nishan Madushka b Milan Rathnayake | 20 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 83.33 |
| Tom Abell | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Amshi De Silva | 11 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 52.38 |
| Josh Bohannon | lbw b Lakshitha Manasinghe | 57 | 86 | 7 | 0 | 66.28 |
| Jack Haynes | lbw b Lakshitha Manasinghe | 43 | 38 | 3 | 0 | 113.16 |
| Jamie Smith | not out | 39 | 44 | 5 | 0 | 88.64 |
| Liam Patterson-White | run out (Lakshitha Manasinghe) | 25 | 34 | 2 | 1 | 73.53 |
| Matt Fisher | not out | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Extras | 9 (b 4 , lb 0 , nb 3, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 221/7 (48 Overs, RR: 4.6) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lasith Embuldeniya | 19 | 3 | 82 | 0 | 4.32 | |
| Milan Rathnayake | 8 | 0 | 31 | 3 | 3.88 | |
| Dunith Wellalage | 5 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 4.80 | |
| Amshi De Silva | 5 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 5.00 | |
| Lakshitha Manasinghe | 11 | 0 | 55 | 2 | 5.00 | |
 and Nishan Madushka (91*) put on 203 to bring Sri Lanka A within 103 runs of the England Lions 1st innings lead on day 2 of the 1st Unofficial Test between the sides at the Galle International Cricket Stadium.){kind=link}