Sri Lanka ‘A’ reach 326 for 8

A well-crafted 141-run stand for the sixth wicket from Dilruwan Perera and Kaushal Silva helped Sri Lanka reach 326 for eight on the first day of their game against Zimbabwe Select XI after Prosper Utseya took three quick wickets.

ut after lunch Christopher Mpofu rattled the middle order with his pace. Sri Lanka A won the toss and opted for first use of the track used 93 overs.

Zimbabwe Select got an early breakthrough when Mpofu wicket of Sri Lanka A opener Mahela Udawatta caught by Tatenda Taibu behind the stumps.But the tourists soon recovered from their early setback, with Malinda Warnapura (71). Sri Lanka past the 50 mark after 18 overs.

he aggressive Warnapura and Tharanga Paranavithana (48) patched up Sri Lanka A’s innings for a spell with some gutsy blows to the boundary to take them to lunch on 89 for the loss of one wicket.

Paranavithana, scooping the ball to Keith Dabengwa in the covers off Utseya for a sitter. The dangerous Warnapura was stopped in his tracks caught behind for Mupariwa’s first wicket.

Skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan, who flew into the country yesterday after appearing in Sri Lanka’s 3-2 defeat at home to England in five One-Day Internationals, fell to his counterpart edging to the wicketkeeper.

ilruwan Perera (75) batting at number seven and Kaushal Silva (63) shunned the big shots and kept the scoreboard ticking to bring up a hundred-run partnership for the sixth wicket off 183 balls.

A streak of aggression from the tail raced Sri Lanka A past the 300 mark. Nuwan Kulasekara pulled Mupariwa over midwicket for a one-bounce four and clipped Brent for another set of four runs in the next over as Sri Lanka closed on 326 for eight in 93 overs.

Sri Lanka A - 326 for 8: (Dilruwan. Perera 75, Malinda. Warnapura 71, Kaushal. Silva 63; P Utseya 3/76, C. Mpofu 3/65)