Sri Lanka ‘A’ ended day 3 of the 2nd and last Unofficial Test against the visiting Bangladesh ‘A’ side with a lead of 64 runs today at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota.
Bangladesh ‘A’ resumed play today with a lead of 60 runs and went on to add 47 more runs by the end of their innings. Trailing by 107 runs, the Lankan openers made a bold reply with an unbroken partnership of 126 as bad light brought an early end to the day allowing just 54.1 overs for the entire day.
The two Sri Lankan openers, Sangeeth Cooray and Pathum Nissanka continued their golden run in the series as both went on to reach half-centuries. Nissanka was the top-scorer for Sri Lanka in the 1st innings while Cooray amassed a century in the previous game.
Before the solid batting display by Nissanka and Cooray, 24-year old Mohamed Shiraz completed his 3rd first-class 5-wicket haul with the wickets of Bangladeshi lower-order batsmen Rishad Hossain and Ebadot Hossain. He had already dismissed Bangladesh national caps Jahurul Islam, Najmul Hossain and skipper Mominul Haque yesterday.
Apart from Shiraz, left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya too impressed with 3 wickets after bowling 31 overs, the most of the innings. This performance will also help him in ranking himself above fellow left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara who played the previous game and managed to pick just 1 wicket.
Off-spinner Nishan Peiris, who once was in the Sri Lanka Test squad but didn’t play, ended with disappointing figures of 0/41 after just 7 overs falling behind off-spinning all-rounder Ramesh Mendis who picked up 3 wickets in the previous game.
The hosts will now target to add on to their lead and give a go at bowling out the Bangladeshis before the end of play tomorrow to clinch the series 1-0.
