Kusal’s comeback series ends in draw
Kithruwan Vithanage and Kusal Perera who has had a successful series as the duo cracked tons to frustrate the Pakistan ‘A’ on the fourth and final day’s play of the third unofficial Test match played at Rangiri Dambulla Stadium.
Kithruwan Vithanage faced 218 deliveries and struck 18 fours for his knock of 136 - Pic by Nissanka Meegoda
The two tons helped Sri Lanka ‘A’ end the day on 411 for 5.
Sri Lanka ‘A’ coming into the field on the final day with the task of having to erase a further 188 runs resumed from their overnight score of 119 for 3. The foundation for their recovery came from the overnight pair of Vithanage and skipper Ashan Priyanjan.
The pair added a valuable 114 runs before they were separated with skipper Priyanjan’s dismissal for 52. From there Kithruwan joined by Kusal denied success for the Pakistan ‘A’ bowlers for a considerable period.
The pair had things their own way and it was a repeat of Pakistan ‘A’s bating on day two and three. They erased the deficit of 307 runs and by the time they were separated Sri Lanka ‘A’ was in a strong position.
It was Vithanage’s dismissal that ended another valuable partnership for Sri Lanka ‘A’. Vithanage’s knock of 136 coming in 218 balls including18 boundaries.
An inevitable draw being on the card as Kusal continued his usual way and accumulating runs at will. With 14 overs of play remaining the two captains agreed to call off the game. Kusal remained unbeaten of 102 his third ton of the series which came in 120 balls that included 20 boundaries and a six.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka A 1st innings 273 all out
(Kusal Perera 90, Nisala Tharaka 76,
Kithruwan Vithanage 48: Fawad Alam 4 for 40, Shahzad Azam 3 for 64, Tabish Khan 2 for 65)
Pakistan A 1st inning (377/4 overnight)
Khurram Manzoor c Priyanjan b Gamage 13
Shan Masood c de Silva b Priyanjan 182
Umar Amin c Priyanjan b Gamage 127
Usman Salahuddin lbw b Jayasundara 36
Fawad Alam lbw b Gamage 12
Ali Asad c Perera b Tharaka 89
Adnan Akmal not out 54
Shahzad Azam c Gunaratne b Gamage 21
Zia-ul-Haq c sub b Chameera 16
Extras (b2, lb10, nb2, w16) 30
Total (8 wickets: 149.3 overs declared) 580
Fall of wicket: 1-20 (Manzoor), 2,
224 (Amin), 3-292 (Salahuddin),
4-315 (Alam), 5-439 (Masood), 6-499 (Asad),7-545 (Azam), 8-580 (Haq).
Bowling: Lahiru Gamage 30-7-112-4, Dushmantha Chameera 23.3-4-88-1, Nisala Tharaka 20-2-70-1, Malinda Pushpakumara 35–4-118-0, Dhananjaya de Silva 21-0-102-0, Ashan Priyanjan 18-1-69-1-0, Udara Jayasundara 2-0-9-1.
Sri Lanka A 2nd innings
Udara Jayasundara c Akmal b Azam 56
Dhananjaya de Silva lbw b Khan 37
Madawa Warnapura c Akmal b Azam 08
Kithruwan Vithanage c Salahuddin b Hamza 136
Ashan Priyanjana c Akmal b amin 54
Kusal Perera not out 102
Asela Gunaratne not out 09
Extra (b3, lb1, nb1, w4) 09
Total (5 wickets: 116 overs) 411
Fall of wickets: 1-88 (de Silva),
2-101 (Jayasundara), 3 112 (Warnapura),
4- 226 (Priyanjana), 5-381 (Vithanage).
Bowling: Tabish Khan 20-4-83-1, Zia-ul-Haq 16-2-70-0, Mir Hamza 21-4-67-1, Shahzad Azam 18-3-63-2, Fawad Alam 28-7-92-0, Umar Amin 12-1-26-1, Usman Salahuddin 1-0-6-0.