Sri Lanka ‘A’ team capped off their impressive performance throughout the match as they recorded a convincing 10-wicket win over the touring West Indies ‘A’ on Tuesday morning at Hambanthota.
Sri Lanka bowlers needed only 7.3 overs on the 4th day of the match to clean up the tail as little-known left arm seamer Vishwa Fernando broke the stubborn 106-run stand for the 8th wicket as Nikita Miller was caught by Thirimanne for 46 runs and Fernando defeated Shillingford’s resistance with his extra-pace in the following over as the West Indian top-scored with 63 runs. Two balls later, Sheldon Cottrell was clean bowled by Vishwa Fernando as the hosts wrapped up the West Indies 2nd innings for 285 runs.
Sri Lanka ’A’ needed 33 runs to win the game and the Lankan openers, Dimuth Karunaratne and Jehan Mubarak took only 4.3 overs to reach the target. Mubarak and Dimuth were unbeaten on 21 and 11 respectively.
Opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratne and Seekuge Prasanna were the standout performers for the hosts as the left-hander scored a century and the leg-spinner bagged 9 wickets in the match.
Sri Lanka ‘A’ will host the Caribbean boys for the 2nd unofficial Test match which is scheduled to start on 18th October at Uyanwatta Stadium in Matara.
Chief Scores:
Sri Lanka ‘A’ – 413 all out in 140.5 overs: Dimuth Karunaratne 139, Lahiru Thirimanne 93, Dinesh Chandimal 87, Shane Shillingford 5/160, Shannon Gabriel 2/43.
West Indies ‘A’ – 160 all out in 51 overs: Assad Fudadin 32, Kraigg Braithwaite 24, Chadwick Walton 50, Seekuge Prasanna 6/64, Shaminda Eranga 2/54.
West Indies ‘A’ (2nd innings) – 285 all out in 80.3 overs: Kirk Edwards 76, Jermaine Blackwood 39, Shane Shillingford 63, Nikita Miller 46, Seekuge Prasanna 3/122, Lahiru Gamage 3/49, Vishwa Fernando 3/21.
Sri Lanka ‘A’ (2nd innings) – 34/0 in 4.3 overs: Jehan Mubarak 21*, Dimuth Karunarathne 11*.
