da stake casino： Sri Lanka A were dismissed for 220 in the final over by Pakistan A whotook the honours on the opening day of the first four-day unofficialTest played at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium onWednesday
da brdice： Sa'adi Thawfeeq13-Jun-2001Sri Lanka A were dismissed for 220 in the final over by Pakistan A whotook the honours on the opening day of the first four-day unofficialTest played at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium onWednesday.It was the lack of application on the part of the Sri Lanka A batsmenthat led to their own downfall, as much as Pakistan A bowled well. Thebowlers stuck to a steady line and length, and played upon the impatienceof the batsmen.Following a slow beginning in the first session when Sri Lanka made only 55off 26 overs after being asked to bat first, they lost three wickets forseven runs on resumption and by mid-afternoon had slumped to 98 for five.It was left to the bottom order to ensure they reached a respectable total.They contributed 122 for the last five wickets of which Chamara Silva madea top score of 52, and Akalanka Ganegama and Sajeeva Weerakoon 26 apiece.As much as it was a big disappointment for those given the opportunity toprove themselves at international level, it was sheer frustration for KumarSangakkara who made just four before he shouldered arms to an inswingerfrom Yasir Arafat and saw his off bail disturbed.The left-hander was included in the side in order to give him anopportunity to regain his confidence and get some valuable match practicebefore the Indians arrive next month. But following a good beginning to hisinternational career, Sangakkara is struggling to come to terms with thereality that his weaknesses have been studied closely by his opponents.Although Silva made a fifty in 140 minutes with six fours, it was more of achancy sort of innings rather than one that was played with any confidence.He was lucky on several occasions not to drag the ball on to his stumps whenhe inside-edged deliveries that went for runs.He plays many of his shots so much like the great Aravinda de Silva, but he must learn to convert fifties into big hundreds if he is to make a leap from first-class to Test cricket.Dhammika Sudarshana, making his first appearance in international cricket,was responsible for the tedious morning’s play, scoring just 11 runs in thetwo-hour session in which he faced 77 balls. His opening partnerIan Daniel was more enterprising during his short stay, hitting three foursbefore putting up a simple catch to gully off a delivery from Shabbir Ahmedwhich rose rather sharply to surprise the batsman.Michael van Dort, Upekha Fernando and skipper Tilan Samaraweera all playedthemselves in but lacked the patience to play a long innings.The crafty Yasir Arafat troubled all the batsmen with his pace and movementoff the seam, and leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, who is also known asNani-Danny, supported him well, sharing six wickets between them. They wereboth members of the Pakistan under-19 World Cup side that toured Sri Lankalast year.Batsman Jeevantha Kulatunga was ruled out of the match with a severe boutof influenza which had resulted him being hospitalised. In the event, Upekha Fernando got his chance to play. Sri Lanka A also left out Dinusha Fernando, Gayan Wijekoon and Muthumudalige Pushpakumara who was 12th man.
