Dushmantha Chameera picked up 3 wickets in an impressive spell of bowling to give Sri Lanka some solace on day 2 of the 3 day warm up game versus the New Zealand President’s XI today.
He bowled with characteristic pace and was able to extract some seam movement from the Queenstown track. However, he could not prevent the young President’s XI team from gaining a 95 run lead with 3 wickets in hand, at the end of the day.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka resumed their innings at 97/5, with Milinda Siriwardene and Dimuth Karunaratne looking to rebuild and get to a healthy 1st innings score. Their hopes were dashed however as Siriwardene was out bowled, leaving an inswinger from Neil Wagner, in the 4th over of the day. Sri Lanka’s last recognized batsman Kusal Perera did not last long as he succumbed to a wild hoik off the bowling of Ryan McCone for 1. Karunaratne was then left to manage the tail and he found an able partner in Rangana Herath. The pair put on a steady 59 run partnership and more importantly occupied the crease for close to 20 overs, frustrating the host’s bowlers. Central District’s quick Blair Tickner finally got the breakthrough when he had Karunaratne caught by Glenn Phillips for 93. Herath fell soon after to yesterday’s hero Tim Johnston for a valuable 34 and Dushmantha Chameera followed as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 193 in just under 73 overs.
Off spinner Johnston ended with figures of 4 for 43 while pace bowlers Wagner, Tickner and McCone shared 6 wickets between them.
NZ President’s XI’s openers Bharat Popli and Ben Smith came out looking to eclipse Sri Lanka’s score by the end of the day and they very nearly did it all on their own. The pair put on 179 runs for the 1st wicket, putting the President’s XI firmly in the driving seat. The Sri Lankan quicks looked flat on a surface that was proving to be no minefield; spearhead Dhammika Prasad bowled just 4 overs during the day. The breakthrough finally came in the 39th over courtesy Chameera as one of his full pitched deliveries saw Smith’s stumps splayed. Golden armed Siriwardene then picked up Popli in the very next over, and when Chameera picked up Phillips two overs later, Sri Lanka could finally begin to hope to restrict the host’s innings. Dilruwan Perera and Rangana Herath tightened the screws for the visitors, bowling 12 overs for 11 runs, including 6 maidens and 2 wickets, while Jeffrey Vandersay chipped in with one wicket. Joel Harden and Shawn Hicks put on valuable 54 run partnership for the 7th wicket to put the NZ President’s XI in control of proceedings once again, as they finished day two on 288/7.
Chameera’s burst of speed brought him 3 wickets but one wonders if it was too little too late as Sri Lanka conceded a considerable first innings lead to a team that features few familiar names. The spinners’ performances will be heartening but once again the likes of Herath and co will be disappointed that they could not wrap up the tail by the end of the day.
Sri Lanka – 193 (72.5) (Dimuth Karunaratne 93, Rangana Herath 34, Tim Johnston 4/43, Neil Wagner 3/31)
NZ President’s XI – 288/7 (Ben Smith 81, Bharat Popli 79, Dushmantha Chameera 3/52, Dilruwan Perera 2/6)
NZ President’s XI lead by 95
