Rains came down in Galle with Sri Lanka A just 3 wickets away from a remarkable, come from behind win against the England Lions in the 1st Unofficial Test between the sides.
Read : Fisher five-for gives Lions advantage against Sri Lanka A
The game ended with an hour of the day’s play remaining, the visitors on 221/7, 111 runs adrift from the target, saved by the showers in Galle.
Sri Lanka A scripted an incredible comeback in the game, having being bowled out for 136 on the 1st day and subsequently conceding a 331-run lead to the Lions. The chief architect behind the comeback was Nishan Madushka, who has been in red-hot form during the last 12 months.
Read More : Fernando and Madushka script strong comeback for Sri Lanka A
The right-hander hit 241 in Sri Lanka A’s mammoth 2nd innings total of 663/9d, the 3rd highest score by a Sri Lanka A batter according to available records, behind Dinesh Chandimal’s 244 (2010) and Malinda Warnapura’s 242 (2006).
A 219-run partnership between Madushka and skipper Nipun Dhananjaya (128) helped Sri Lanka cross the 650-run mark, but then there was a mini collapse, with Sri Lanka losing 6 wickets for 9 runs, slumping from 654/3 to 663/9.
Nevertheless, the hosts felt they had enough on the board to bowl out the Lions and declares, giving the visitors a target of 333.
The Lions started off cautiously, but once again showed signs of emulating their senior side, with some attacking batting as they looked to chase down the target. This in turn opened the door for the Sri Lankan bowlers, who struck regularly to reduce them to 221/7 before the game was ended by rain.
Read Also : Madushka bats Sri Lanka A into lead going into final day
It was by no means a bowler’s game, but Milan Rathnayake impressed on day 4, with 3/31, while Lakshitha Manasinghe had figures of 2/55.
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 | |
