New Zealand A pulled off their second win in as many days, an emphatic dismantling of Sri Lanka A and winning the match by 7 wickets, to follow victory over England Lions, giving them control of the triangular series.
New Zealand ‘A’ won the toss and sent in Sri Lanka ‘A’ to bat first. Sri Lanka ‘A’ got off to an average start scoring 40 runs in 10 over’s. Sri Lanka ‘A’ lost their first wicket when Danushka Gunathilaka was caught by Colin Munro of the bowling of Doug Bracewell for 19 runs of 31 balls. Hamish Bennett removed the other opener, Mahela Udawatte for 15 off 36 balls, in the following over but Sri Lanka A progressed to 84 for 2.
Doug Bracewell had the Sri Lanka ‘A’ captain, Ashan Priyanjan, caught behind for 20 off 22 balls and dismissed Bhanuka Rajapaksa for a duck in the same over. Dinesh Chandimal, the other set batsman, fell to Colin de Grandhomme one ball later for 15 runs off 17 balls, with the score still on 84, and Sodhi then got involved as Sri Lanka ‘A’ slipped to 101 for 7.
Ish Sodhi, whose 4 for 10 came off six overs, broke a stand of 31 for eighth wicket by having top-scorer Seekkuge Prasanna caught for 24 off 35 balls, as the innings was wrapped up with 15 over’s to spare. While seven of the Sri Lanka A batsmen got into double figures, none could go on to build a substantial innings as Sri Lanka ‘A’ were all out for a dismal 140 of 35 over’s.
New Zealand ‘A’s openers allayed them by racing to 85 inside ten over’s before Hamish Rutherford fell for 38 off 29 balls. Tom Latham completed an aggressive half-century as Sri Lanka ‘A’ used eight different bowlers and, although Dushmantha Chameera took two in two balls, the result was never in doubt as New Zealand ‘A’ cruised to victory in 18 overs with 7 wickets to
spare.
Scores in brief:
Sri Lanka ‘A’ – 140/10 in 35 overs. Seekuge Prasanna 24, Ashan Priyanjan 20, Ish Sodhi 4/10, Doug Bracewell 3/19.
New Zealand ‘A’ – 142/3 in 18 overs. Tom Latham 64, Hamish Rutherford 38, Dushmantha Chameera 2/14.
