Sri Lanka A finally managed to put up a decent fight against the Pakistan A bowlers as they ended day 3 on 102/2, after being bundled out for 67 in reply to the 394 made by the Pakistanis in their 1st innings.
It was a rain-curtailed day once again in Pallekele as Pakistan A could only bowl 28.3 overs in the 2nd innings, after taking just 8 balls to remove Sri Lanka’s last 1st innings wicket in the morning.
Read more: Naseem’s pace too much to handle for the Lankans
Despite the Pakistani dominance and constant rain interruptions, Sri Lanka’s best performer throughout the 2-match Unofficial Test series, the 20-year old left-handed batter Kamil Mishara, stood tall for the hosts once again with a fighting half-century (53*).
Following modest partnerships of 30 and 23 with his opening partner Nishan Madushka and the left-handed Nipun Dananjaya respectively, Mishara managed to end the day with an unbeaten 49-run partnership for the 3rd wicket with Skipper Sadeera Samarawickrama seeing off the steamy Pakistani pace attack.
Skipper Samarawickrama, who was unbeaten on 19 at close of play, will be looking forward to a good finish for the series with an eye on a Sri Lanka Test call-up for the upcoming series against the visiting West Indies. However, with Sri Lanka still trailing by 225 runs, Samarawickrama will have to bat his heart out together with Mishara and the middle order to come.
Mishara on the other hand sends a strong message to the selectors with back to back fighting fifties against an attack that all other Sri Lanka A batters have failed in 2 4-day games. Mishara has scored 172 runs so far in this series and is still counting.
Despite only 156.5 overs being bowled in 3 days of this game so far, the Pakistanis will start as favourites to win the game tomorrow and clinch the series 1-0. Their pace attack, led by the 18-year old Test Cap Naseem Shah, picked up 9 out of the 10 1st innings wickets and looked too hot for the young Sri Lankan batters.
Brief Scores
Pakistan A: 394/10 (106)
Abdullah Shafique 117, Agha Salman 103, Kamran Ghulam 45, Chamika Gunasekara 6/83
Sri Lanka A: 67 (22.2)
Suminda Lakshan 29, Nipun Dananjaya 17, Naseem Shah 4/28, Khurram Shahzad 3/10
Sri Lanka A: 102/2 (28.3) (F/O)
Kamil Mishara 53*, Sadeera Samarawickrama 19*, Agha Salman 1/17
Sri Lanka A trail by 225 runs
Stumps – Day 3
