Sri Lanka ‘A’ registered a 6-wicket win over the England Lions in the third unofficial ODI and clinched the 3-match series 2-1 at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.
England Lions Skipper Sam Hain won the toss and opted to bat first in the series decider. The hosts made three changes to their playing XI from the previous game.
OUT – Avishka Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Pramod Madushan
IN – Lahiru Udara, Nipun Dhananjaya, Isitha Wijesundera
Sri Lanka started off pretty well with the ball, dismissing 2 scalps of the opposition inside the first powerplay. The right-arm seamer Isitha Wijesundera was very impressive with the new ball as he created all sorts of trouble for the opposite batters in his opening spell.
The Sri Lankan spinners also backed up the good opening seam bowling display by tightening the screws on the England batters, with exceptions spin bowling in the middle phase of the innings. The England batters were going nowhere at the middle, losing wickets at regular intervals, and were restricted to just 166 runs.
Wijesundera was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts as he picked up 3 wickets for 14 runs in his 7-over spell. The wrist-spinner Dushan Hemantha continued his good form with the ball, taking 3 wickets for 27 runs.
Chasing 167 runs to win, Sri Lanka got off to a shaky start losing their opening pair for 28 runs inside the first 7 overs. However, the two new additions to the hosts’ playing XI – Nipun Dhananjaya and Lahiru Udara – steadied the innings with a vital 45-run stand for the 3rd wicket.
Dhananjaya playing in his first game of the series, stroked a match winning half-century helping Sri Lanka ‘A’ cruised to the victory with 6 wickets in hand.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob Bethell | c Nuwanidu Fernando b Suminda Lakshan | 50 | 67 | 4 | 1 | 74.63 |
| Jack Haynes | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Isitha Wijesundera | 13 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 81.25 |
| Sam Hain | c Kavishka Anjula b Sahan Arachchige | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 30.00 |
| Tom Prest | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Dunith Wellalage | 12 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 46.15 |
| James Rew | c Dhananjaya Lakshan b Dushan Hemantha | 15 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 31.91 |
| Jordan Cox | st Sadeera Samarawickrama b Suminda Lakshan | 31 | 46 | 3 | 0 | 67.39 |
| Tom Lammonby | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Isitha Wijesundera | 6 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 30.00 |
| Brydon Carse | b Isitha Wijesundera | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Tom Hartley | c Nipun Dhananjaya b Dushan Hemantha | 22 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 104.76 |
| Saqib Mahmood | st Sadeera Samarawickrama b Dushan Hemantha | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Mason Crane | not out | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 41.67 |
| Extras | 8 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 7, pen 0) |
| Total | 166/10 (45 Overs, RR: 3.69) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kavishka Anjula | 4 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 7.50 | |
| Isitha Wijesundera | 7 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 2.00 | |
| Sahan Arachchige | 8 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 4.62 | |
| Dunith Wellalage | 7 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 4.71 | |
| Nuwanidu Fernando | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2.00 | |
| Suminda Lakshan | 7 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 2.86 | |
| Dushan Hemantha | 10 | 1 | 27 | 3 | 2.70 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lasith Croospulle | b Saqib Mahmood | 18 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 94.74 |
| Nuwanidu Fernando | c Jordan Cox b Tom Hartley | 10 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 58.82 |
| Lahiru Udara | lbw b Mason Crane | 21 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 84.00 |
| Nipun Dhananjaya | not out | 65 | 76 | 4 | 0 | 85.53 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | c Jack Haynes b Mason Crane | 23 | 29 | 3 | 0 | 79.31 |
| Sahan Arachchige | not out | 22 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 78.57 |
| Extras | 8 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 1, w 7, pen 0) |
| Total | 167/4 (32.1 Overs, RR: 5.19) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saqib Mahmood | 5 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 4.80 | |
| Tom Hartley | 7.1 | 0 | 46 | 1 | 6.48 | |
| Jacob Bethell | 6 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 3.50 | |
| Brydon Carse | 5 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 5.00 | |
| Mason Crane | 7 | 0 | 41 | 2 | 5.86 | |
| Tom Prest | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 5.00 | |
