Double hundred stand guide Lankan ‘A’
Skipper Milinda Siriwardana took four scalps
Sri Lanka ‘A’ openers Dhanushka Gunatilleke and Kusal Perera guided Sri Lanka ‘A’ in pursuit of 218 runs for victory to record an easy win by 119 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis method against England Lions in the second unofficial ODI encounter played at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium yesterday.
The duo cracked unbeaten knocks with Dhanushka slamming a quick fire 88 ball 121 that included 12 boundaries and half a dozen sixes while Kusal hit 70 in 88 balls which had nine boundaries and a six. They were also associated in an unbroken 201 runs in 28.4 overs of batting before rain forced the umpires to call off the game.
The foundation for Sri Lanka ‘A’ win was laid by skipper and left arm orthodox spinner Milinda Siriwardena. He finished the Lions innings with impressive figures of 4 for 40. Besides right arm pacies Thisara Perera and Lahiru Madusanka also bagged two wickets each to restrict the visitors to 217.
England Lions had a shaky start losing their first two wickets for just 18 runs before top scorer Liam Livingstone who continued his batting. Then Livingstone and Ben Duckett put on a valuable 81 run stand for the third wicket. They underwent a setback again when they lost another but Livingstone came to the rescue once again with Joe Clarke and added 66 runs for the fifth wicket.
Later Livingstone fell short of partners as none of the late order batsmen were able to reach double digits. The pressure took precedence and he was unfortunate to miss out on a ton by six runs, cracking 94 in 104 balls that included seven boundaries and two sixes.
The win saw Sri Lanka ‘A’ take a 2-0 lead in the five match series having won the first match also on D/L method by 47 runs. The two teams will play their third unofficial ODI encounter on March 6 at the Welagedera Stadium in Kurunegala.
