Bandara grabs five but Lanka A struggle
by Sa'adi Thawfeeq
Leg-spinner Malinga Bandara proved a point to the
Southern Province selectors who dared to leave him out of the recently
concluded provincial tournament when he captured five wickets for 96
runs off 37 overs for Sri Lanka 'A' on the second day of the 4-day
unofficial cricket test against England 'A' at the CCC grounds
yesterday.
In favourable batting conditions Bandara produced a fine
spell of bowling to capture four wickets for 39 runs off nine overs to
wrap up the England 'A' first innings for 424.
By the close Sri Lanka 'A' were struggling at 179 for
six wickets, requiring a further 96 runs to make England 'A' bat again.
Bandara no rabbit with the bat was again in the way of the tourists
hitting an undefeated 30 off 40 balls with the aid of six fours.
Associated with him in partnership was Gayan Wijekoon on 17.
Bandara, the 25-year-old Southerner was completely
overlooked for any of the matches in the provincial tournament despite
being in the 20-member Southern Province squad. Given a break to play in
the 'A' team, Bandara proved the southern selectors wrong for leaving
him out with a wonderful display that brought some rave comments from
Australian-born team coach Stan Nel who said: "The pitch is an absolute
batting paradise.
It is more difficult for the bowlers. In that respect
Malinga Bandara's five wickets was a great haul in his first game for
Sri Lanka 'A' for quite some time."
England 'A' added 152 runs to their overnight total of
272-4, losing their last six wickets for 126 runs to the second new
ball. Skipper Ian Bell added 16 runs to this overnight total before
Ranjith sent his off stump cartwheeling. He occupied the crease for 374
minutes scoring 144 and faced 302 balls hitting 12 fours and two sixes.
After his departure Matt Prior kept the England innings
on a steady course despite the loss of wickets from the other end to
remain unbeaten on 76 scored off 85 balls with the aid of 10 fours. We
bowled well in parts yesterday (first day) and fielded really well.
Today our top four batsmen let us down. They have come after a good
provincial tournament and they are in form," said Nel.
"I had a chat with them at the end of the day's play and
asked them to take on more responsibility for their innings and give us
something.
Having said that Kandamby was a bit unlucky the ball
ricocheted off the shoe and he was caught and Prasanna Jayawardene was
also unlucky when he was given out when he edged the ball onto the pads.
It was disappointing but that's cricket," he said.
Nel said the bottom order had assured him that they were
not going to give up easily. "They are going to get as many runs as
possible and bat responsibly and make up for it which is really pleasing
to me. If you can't bat on this and make runs you can't play."
Commenting on the decision to insert England 'A' on this
belter of a track Nel said: "I have two young guys as captain (Mubarak)
and vice captain (Kandamby) and I've basically given them the
responsibility of making the decisions on what they do."
"I thought that we should bat first but they had a chat
and this being Jehan's home ground he thought their might be a little
bit of life on the wicket. But it didn't work out the way they thought.
I don't think they made a mistake; it's a judgment thing.
The day and a half they spent on the field I think will
be an experience," said Nel. Sri Lanka 'A's batting was put into
shambles by Sajjad Mahmood, the right arm fast bowler who gained
exceptional lift much to the discomfort of the batsmen to capture three
wickets for 41 runs off nine overs. Lewis and Harrison also bowled
equally well but had only a solitary wicket apiece to show for their
efforts.
ENGLAND ‘A’ 1ST INNINGS
(overnight 272-4)
M.J. Powell c Jayawardene b Ranjith 7
A.N. Cook lbw b Ranjith 63
I.R. Bell b Ranjith 144
O.A. Shah lbw b Bandara 52
R. Clarke c Polonowita b Mohamed 4
D.S. Harrison c Polonowita b Thushara 20
M.J. Prior not out 76
A.P.R. Gidman c Polonowita b Bandara 20
G.P. Swann lbw b Bandara 0
S.I. Mahmood c Polonowita b Bandara 14
J. Lewis b Bandara 0
Extras (b-7, lb-6, nb-7, w-4) 24
Total (all out, 127 overs, 507 mins) 424
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-126, 3-243,
4-270, 5-294, 6-328, 7-384, 8-386, 9-424, 10-424.
Bowling: Ranjith 16-0-69-3 (1nb),
Wijekoon 19-4-39-0, Thushara 24-1-104-1 (4w, 6nb),
Mohamed 28-4-89-1, Bandara 37-5-96-5,
Kandamby 1-0-7-0, Mubarak 2-0-7-0.
SRI LANKA ‘A’ 1ST INNINGS
D.A. Gunawardene c Prior b Mahmood 40
G.I. Daniel c Gidman b Harrison 8
A.S. Polonowita c Prior b Mahmood 16
J. Mubarak b Mahmood 10
S.H.T. Kandamby c and b Swann 28
H.A.P.W. Jayawardene lbw b Lewis 24
M.R.G. Wijekoon not out 17
C.M. Bandara not out 30
Extras (b-2, nb-2, w-1) 5
Total (6 wkts at close,
51 overs, 206 mins) 179
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-65,
3-76, 4-77, 5-123, 6-130.
To bat: M.M.S. Mohamed,
M.M.T. Thushara, P.N. Ranjith.
Bowling: Lewis 10-3-23-1 (3nb),
Harrison 7-1-35-1 (1w), Clarke 10-0-39-0,
Mahmood 9-1-41-3, Swann 14-6-31-1,
Shah 1-0-8-0.
|
