Sri Lanka struggle in tour opener
Kurtis Patterson scored an unbeaten hundred
Sri Lanka and the Cricket Australia XI have drawn their three-day tour match in Hobart, with the tourists struggling with the pink ball ahead of the first Test.
The CA XI declared its second innings on day three at 3-224, before Sri Lanka batted out 51 overs to be 6-131 — trailing by 233 runs — when the captains shook hands at Bellerive Oval.
Kurtis Patterson was the man of the match for his twin unbeaten centuries — his 157 in the first dig followed by 102 in the second.
Unfortunately for the NSW batsman, he is not in the Test squad for the first match at the Gabba which begins on Thursday.
Of the four CA XI batsmen who are in the mix, Marnus Labuschagne had the best results, with a second innings 50 for a match total of 56 runs.
Openers Matt Renshaw (7 and 10) and Joe Burns (4 and 22) failed to make a big impact, while newcomer Will Pucovski followed his first innings 23 with a 33 not out.
The Sri Lankan top order had all got starts in the first innings, but the bowling combination of Michael Neser and Jon Holland proved hard to combat in the second.
Lahiru Thirimanne (46 not out), Niroshan Dickwella (19) and Dilruwan Perera (14) were the only players in the top six to got into double figures.
Lahiru Thirimanne made an impressive comeback knock
Thirimanne has not played a Test for Sri Lanka since August 2017, but in a side struggling for runs and without their former skipper Angelo Mathews, he has done his chances of a recall no harm.
Sri Lanka’s middle-order mainstay Kusal Mendis did not bat in the match after being struck on the finger while fielding on the opening day while fielding at short leg.
Mendis was cleared of a break after x-rays at a local hospital, and the Sri Lankans were confident he would be fit to play in the opening Test.
Sri Lanka showed little indication they’re interested in pressing for a result in this game, but still gave an extended spell to their new-ball Test bowlers Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Kumara as they fine-tuned their own preparations for next week’s day-night Test match at the Gabba.
Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal used nine bowlers throughout this second innings, with the 14 overs Kumara bowled the most of any and he finished with 1-48. Lakmal’s six overs went for 16 and Dushmantha bowled just four in the second innings and claimed 1-28.
Neser (2-8 off five overs) and Holland (4-28 off 15 overs) dominated the bowling for the CA XI.
Seamers Chris Tremain (0-32) and Scott Boland (0-28) failed to break through on the final day.
- Cricket Australia XI 316 for 5 decl. and 224 for 3 decl. (Kurtis Patterson 102n.o, Will Pukovski 33n.o, Marnus Labuschagne 50)
- Sri Lanka 176 for 5 decl and 133 for 6 at close (Lahiru Thirimanne 46n.o, Roshen Silva 27 rtd n.o, Scott Boland 2 for 37, Marnus Labuschagne 2 for 27)