On the batting front, Kusal Mendis squandered his chance to complete a maiden double-hundred, Niroshan Dickwella cracked his way to 75, Tamim Iqbal hit a half-century before running himself out, and a charmed Soumya Sarkar saw out the day on 66 not out. Among the cricket’s redeeming features, meanwhile, has been Sri Lanka’s positive outlook at the crease (they scored their runs at 3.82 an over), and the emergence of first hints of big turn. If the Galle pitch continues to descend into its familiar cantankerous mood through the back end of this match, Bangladesh will have to bat very well.

For now, it is the batsmen’s turn to hog the limelight, and no one has done that better than Kusal Mendis so far. He began the day on 166, but found his morning defined by two attempted sixes. The first, off Subashis Roy in the 95th over, was a hook shot gone awry – the mis-hit caught by Mustafizur Rahman at fine leg. The fielder, though, misjudged the position of the boundary, and trod on the rope while competing the catch. The umpire raised his arms to signal a six. Not seeing Mustafizur’s mistake, the bowler raised his arms in celebration. Dickwella, the non-striker, also raised his arms to suggest to Subashis that the ball had been carried over the boundary. Everyone had their hands up, and for a second they were standing around looking like bank tellers during an armed robbery.

The second attempted six, however, would cost Mendis his wicket. He stepped down the pitch to Mehedi and sought to deposit him over long-on. He didn’t quite get to the pitch, however, and this time, the mis-hit was controlled by Tamim Iqbal, who kept the ball in play by throwing it in the air, while he himself momentarily stepped over the boundary. That stroke had been an attempt to get to his maiden double hundred with a six – a sign that for all Mendis’ seeming maturity at the crease, he is not immune to the impetuous flashes of youth. He was out for 194.

While Bangladesh’s bowlers failed to muster the discipline they had managed in the first half of the first day, Mendis’ partner, Dickwella, was typically lively at the crease, launching the second ball he faced on the day over the leg side for six, and at times employing the reverse sweep that has recently served him well in the shortest format. He played the ramp stroke over the slips to hit the second of his successive boundaries off Taskin Ahmed in the 97th over, and brought up his second Test half century soon after, off the 52nd ball he faced. Mehedi eventually had him top-edging an attempted swipe over the leg side to dismiss him for 75. Dilruwan Perera then hit a brisk half century – largely in the company of the tail – to help propel Sri Lanka to the brink of 500.

Tamim and Soumya would go on to register Bangladesh’s first opening century stand in almost two years, but their progress was not always smooth. Soumya should have been out for 4 in the third over, had his outside edge been snared by Perera at gully off the bowling of Suranga Lakmal. Perera then became the bowler to have Tamim Iqbal dropped – on 28 – when wicketkeeper Dickwella failed to cling on to a thick outside edge.

Apart from those two errors, the openers were otherwise assured. They would often stride down the crease to knock the spinners down the ground, or launch them over the infield. Against the quicks, who were used in short spells, they rarely ventured a loose shot – Soumya lifting Lahiru Kumara languidly over the slips at one point.

It was only once both batsmen had almost reached fifty that Sandakan was brought into the attack. He began to cause problems almost immediately, regularly beating the bat and drawing inside-edges. For the first time in the Test, there seemed to be some turn in the surface. He can claim some credit in the dismissal of Tamim, though on the score sheet it went down as a run-out. A stock ball clipped Tamim’s pad en route to the keeper – it perhaps collected some part of the bat as well – and though Dickwella took the ball cleanly, Tamim believed the ball to have dribbled away towards fine leg, and took off for a run. The wicketkeeper only had to take the bails off.

Bangladesh will be disappointed that Mominul Haque got himself trapped in front only a few overs before stumps were drawn, but nevertheless, may feel they have plenty of batting left.

Bangladesh has won just three of its 45 away matches — two against West Indies in 2009 and one against Zimbabwe in 2013 — but has shown considerable improvement since its last victory overseas.

In its own backyard, Bangladesh has won four Tests, drawn five and conceded only three defeats since 2014. It showed impressive recent form against New Zealand and then India in away matches despite losing in both countries.

Sri Lanka has a solid record at home and blanked Australia 3-0 in the last series it hosted, in August 2016. But Bangladesh will be buoyed by the return of Mustafizur Rahman, the left-arm paceman who has not played a Test since his debut series against South Africa in 2015.

Mustafizur, 21, had undergone a shoulder surgery in August last year, after picking up an injury while playing for Sussex. He was selected for the New Zealand tour in December-January, and played four limited-overs matches before being ruled out of the two Tests that followed due to a hamstring injury.

Sri Lanka has won each of its last five Tests on home soil and will be captained by Rangana Herath, its experienced left-arm spinner who replaced Angelo Mathews.

The Sri Lankan cricket board did not say why Mathews was dropped, but he returned home last month midway through the South African tour after twisting his ankle.

The second Test in Colombo from March 15 will be Bangladesh’s 100th since it gained full status nearly 17 years ago.

The teams are also scheduled to play three One-Day Internationals before facing off in two Twenty20 Internationals to wind down the tour on April 6.

Teams (from):

Sri Lanka: Rangana Herath (capt), Dimuth Karunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Upul Tharanga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Asela Gunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Pradeep, Vikum Sanjaya Bandara, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Malinda Pushpakumara.

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt, wk), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Sabbir Rahman, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Mosaddek Hossain, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Subashis Roy, Rubel H

Accordingly, the current scenario is of tremendous expectancy in a changed outlook of several colts that have come on the blocks who will strive to make their cricketing dream come true. Of significance to the Sri Lankan crusade is the presence of veteran campaigner Upul Tharanga back with a bang from an ODI century against South Africa and his consistency with the bat in leading the T20 team to the preceding series triumph. His T20 captaincy performance has been an apparent plus factor to the recall of the 32-year old veteran of 25 Test outings in ousting regular opener Kaushal di Silva for the opening berth. He has a moderate aggregate of 1400 runs from 46 innings with a highest of 165. He is epected to beef up the batting upfront pairing with Dimuth Karunaratne back from an on trial reprieve that he came through with a double ton against England A in the unofficial second test match. Also buoying is the apparent cementing of Test places by wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella and Asela Gunaratne as specialist batsmen, and as much the naming of the 29-year old spin cum utility player Malinda Pushpakumara. While Dickwella and Gunaratne literally nudged the selectors by some fine performances in the instant cricket in South Africa after being omitted for the Test series, Pushpakumara, the former Lumbini MV, Colombo and Chilaw Marians player has been in top form with the ball heading the domestic averages. His 13-wicket haul and match sealing boundary in Sri Lanka A’s win against England A in the second unofficial Test was high stuff at that level that has thrust him on the threshold of winning his national cap against Bangladesh for the first Test starting on March 7 at the Galle Esplanade.

All in all, the squad does carry a lineup of some promising youngsters along with a string of campaigners who have been around long enough to test Bangladesh to the extreme in favourable home conditions. An added dimension to the Sri Lankan official ranks is of course that former top campaigner, Asanka Gurusinha as manager Cricket for the National Team. It is a highly laudable choice by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in getting the perfect blend at managerial level given Gurusinha’s tremendous services to Sri Lanka cricket.

Neighbours Bangladesh will be led by experienced batsman Mushfiqur Rahim in a composition that sees fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman recalled after a 2-year hiatus. The exchanges, that will also see three ODIs and two T20s, has already assumed fiery proportions with the visiting skipper Rahim having thrown the gauntlet in stating on his arrival that Bangladesh was confident of upsetting Sri Lanka in the absence of regular Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews. Test minnows, who top their 100th Test match against Sri Lanka on March 15, have indeed come a long way chalking up a string of Test wins mainly against Zimbabwe, and also defeating the West Indies, in their thrust to tasting the test series euphoria.

Sri Lanka Test squad:Rangana Herath (Captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Upul Tharanga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Asela Gunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Pradeep, Vikum Sanjaya Bandara, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Malinda Pushpakumara.

Bangladesh Test squad Mushfiqur Rahim (c), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rahman, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Mosaddek Hossain, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Subashis Roy, Rubel Hossain.

Tour Manager – Ranjith Fernando, Heapd coach – Graham Ford, Physiotherapist – Ajantha Wattegama, Trainer – Nicholas Lee, Masseur – Lal Thamel, Performance analyst- Sriram Somayajula, Liaison officers – Chandra Rodrigo (Sri Lankan Team), Wasantha Ariyawickrama (B

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Gunaratne hit two match-winning fifties in the recent T20 series in Australia, and had also struck a maiden ODI hundred in South Africa earlier in the month. Dickwella, meanwhile, has been effective at the top of the order in the shorter formats, but had also had some first-class form behind him in recent domestic outings.

Among those omitted from the squad are Kusal Perera, who has been in poor form in both international and domestic cricket over the past few months, and opener Kaushal Silva.

Dimuth Karunaratne, the other opener, remains in the squad, however. This is thanks in part to his 212 for Sri Lanka A against England Lions over the weekend. He had also hit Sri Lanka’s only half-century in their most recent Test at the Wanderers.

The selectors sprang no major surprises on the bowling front. Malinda Pushpakumara, whom SLC had already announced would be part of the squad, is the only first-time addition. Lahiru Kumara, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep and Vikum Sanjaya – all right-armers – make up the seam-bowling options, while Rangana Herath leads a strong spin contingent featuring Dilruwan Perera and Lakshan Sandakan in addition to Pushpakumara. Fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera has not played competitive cricket since late last year, and, as such, is unavailable.

Gunaratne’s inclusion in this squad was largely expected. He had prospered in his first Test series in Zimbabwe over October and November, and had only left the squad to make way for the return of Angelo Mathews, who had been injured for that series. With Mathews out of the side again for this series, Gunaratne is a potential replacement at no. 5, capable of providing a slow-medium bowling option for captain Herath.

Dickwella, 23, had to beat out a late challenge from Ron Chandraguptha to secure the second opener’s spot, but was also the frontrunner for this position. He had mixed results in his previous stint in the Test team in 2014, playing as wicketkeeper and batting down the order – he averages 20.57 after seven Test innings – but has since expanded his game. He was the Player of the Series in the 2-1 T20 victory over South Africa in January, and had also scored 522 runs at an average of 52.20 in Sri Lanka’s first-class competition before he left for that tour.

The Test series begins on March 7 in Galle.

Sri Lanka squad: Rangana Herath (capt), Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Dimuth Karunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Upul Tharanga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Asela Gunaratne, Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Pradeep, Vikum Sanjaya, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Malinda Pushpakumara.

Batting first, South Africa were helped to the target by Faf du Plessis who scored his career best 185. Fifties from Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers were the other hightlights of the first innings.

South Africa vs Sri Lanka

0049 hrs IST: All over! South Africa win by 40 runs after Wayne Parnell bowls Sandakan. Chasing 368 for the first win of the series, Sri Lanka are bowled out for 327 and South Africa now lead the five-match series 4-0

0041 hrs IST: WICKET! Parnell strikes! Sri Lanka lose their ninth wicket as Madhushanka drives one straight to covers. They still need 43 runs but doesn’t look realistic now

0038 hrs IST: WICKET! Stunner from De Kock! Pathirana cannot believe it! What an effort from De Kock. Pathirana plays it very late, trying to get it past De Kock but he just times his jump to perfection and ball sticks in the flap off the gloves. Sri Lanka lose eighth wicket

0033 hrs IST: WICKET! That is gone. Such a tame dismissal after a brilliant innings from Weera! A full toss and he somehow manages to get a top edge off it. Parnell runs from short backward point position to take the catch

0029 hrs IST: Consecutive boundaries for Weerakkody! Both past the short third-man. He has played a gem of an innings in Cape Town. Sri Lanka are relying on him to chase down this target

0022 hrs IST: WICKET! Gunaratne gone! He has pulled it straight to mid-wicket. Brilliant from Rabada as he pulls back the line and batsman tries to pull it hard. Straight to the fielder

0020 hrs IST: FIFTY! Weerakkody gets to his maiden ODI fifty off just 46 balls. This is a great moment to reach the milestone. But can he help Sri Lanka cross the line?

0018 hrs IST: Sri Lanka are 299 for the loss of four wickets after 43 overs. They need 69 more runs off 42 balls and they have six wickets in hand. Can they pull it off?

0003 hrs IST: DROPPED! Shamshi puts a catch on the ropes. That is high up in the air and taking a top edge off Guna’s bat. Shamshi settles below it but could not catch it

0000 hrs IST: Six runs from the 39th over. Sri Lanka are 266 for the loss of four wickets. They need 102 more runs from 66 balls with six wickets in hand. South Africa were 254 for 3 at the same stage

2343 hrs IST: DROPPED! Will this be costly for South Africa? Weerakkody pulls and it goes straight to deep square-leg where Imran Tahir is in no position to take the catch. He has put down a sitter

2342 hrs IST: Over number 35 gone in Cape Town. Sri Lanka are 237 for the loss of four wickets. They need 131 more runs from 90 balls to win this match. Rabada is the bowler for South Africa

2334 hrs IST: WICKET! De Silva adjudged LBW! Brilliant from Rabada. That is a full yorker that hits De Silva on the pads. Umpire has no doubt in his mind. Sri Lank lose their fourth wicket

2330 hrs IST: Now it is becoming difficult for Sri Lanka. The runs have frozen for them. Below 102 balls remaining in their innings and they need 144 runs to win this match with nine wickets in hand

2320 hrs IST: 30 overs bowled and Sri Lanka are 217 for the loss of three wickets. They need 151 more runs from 120 balls. Imrah Tahir is the bowled. De Silva and Weerakkody the two batsmen out there

2315 hrs IST: WICKET! Upal Tharanga is caught at point! A brilliant innings of 119 comes to an end as Wayne Parnell removes Upul Tharanga. Could not keep it down as he tried to cut one. Sri Lanka still need over 150 runs

2307 hrs IST: WICKET! Mendis has to go. Wayne Parnell strikes! That is a big wicket for South Africa. Against the run of play, Mendis is gone. He had shuffled across and Parnell banged in a bouncer. Trying to pull, Mendis misses it and it brushes his gloves on the way and straight to the keeper

2301 hrs IST: Sri Lanka are 200 for the loss of one wicket after 26 overs. They need 168 more runs from 144 balls. Pretty much achievable if they keep their wickets in hand

2254 hrs IST: CENTURY! Upal Tharanga has a hundred with a six! What an innings from Tharanga. The stand-in skipper for Sri Lanka has played a brilliant innings and has kept Sri Lanka in the game

2247 hrs IST: Review! Imran Tahir is convinced that he has got the wicket of Mendis. Umpire says not out. Tahir asks AB to review and South Africa go for it. The impact of the pad and ball is just in line but the googly is turning way too much. Will just kiss the leg-stump. Umpire’s call and it stays not out

2244 hrs IST: 22 overs have been bowled and Sri Lanka are 170 for the loss of one wicket. They still need 198 more runs from 168 balls to win the fourth ODI against South Africa

2234 hrs IST: 150 up for Sri Lanka in the 20th over. This is a nice platform for them to claim the first win of the series. They are chasing a big total but something which is achievable

2225 hrs IST: N Dickwella c Behardien b Pretorius 58
Pretorius breaks the opening stand at 139. The tourists are much ahead as they still have to chase 229 to win the fourth ODI. Mendis makes his way into the middle

2215 hrs IST: Dickwella brings up his third ODI half-century while Tharanga seems unstoppable as he has added 73 from 45 balls. Sri Lanka reach 137 after 15 overs.

2200 hrs IST: Tharanga takes a single as he plays down towards the fielder at point and brings up his 31st ODI half-century. SL 84 for no loss after 8 overs, Dickwella 28. South Africa were at 47/1

2150 hrs IST: Niroshan Dickwella, Upul Tharanga provide Sri Lanka a start they were looking for. The tourists reach 56 for the loss of no wicket after five overs. Tharanga 37 not out and Dickwella batting on 17

South Africa set a target of 368 for Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI at Cape Town. N Dickwella, DS Weerakkody to begin Sri Lanka’s chase.

2050 hrs IST: Faf du Plessis c Gunaratne b Madhushanka 185
Du Plessis makes his way back after a heroic knock, smashed 16 boundaries and three sixes. Plessis hit it high and down to long-on and Gunaratne takes it comfortably. Faf falls three runs short of equaling Gary Kirsten’s record for highest individual score by a South African batsman.

2044 hrs IST: 4,6,0,4,6,2 Faf du Plessis smashes the ball all over the park as he takes South Africa to 317/4 at the end of 46th over. Du Plessis’s 175* is now the highest score at Newlands Cricket Stadium, surpasses David Warner’s 173

Du Plessis his it straight back over the bowler’s head for a maximum and bring 300 up for the hosts. Also, brings up his career best ODI score and his first 150.

South Africa lose AB de Villiers and JP Duminy before Faf du Plessis continues to help the hosts set a big total against Sri Lanka.

Kumara bowls a yorker to Du Plessis and he directs it to the leg side for four and that brings up his seventh ODI century.

South Africa get to the 200 run mark
The wicket of Quinton de Kock was only to be followed by another near century run parthership between du Plessis and AB de Villiers. du plessis is only three runs away from getting to his century.

OUT! Quinton de Kock 55 c Tharanga b Pathirana, South Africa 103/2
Pathirana tosses the ball up and de Kock only nicks it to the slips. No hundred for the Protea Wicket keeper today, a strong second wicket stand ended.

Quinton de Kock gets to his half centuryin 40 balls. Du Plessis and De Kock have now put on 84 runs for the second wicket and South Africa are 87/1. De Kock has go to his fifty in 40 balls, South Africa are 88/1 after 14 overs

Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock have nullified the jolt caused by Amla’s dismissal and South Africa have now raced to 53/1 in nine overs.

The stadium is far from a full house just yet. Kulasekara was the man to bowl the first over and Hashim Amla was the man on strike. South Africa ended the over without losing a wicket but Amla didn’t last long after that.
In the third ball of the second over, he tried to drive a short of a length delivery outside off from Lahiru Kumara and ended up edging it to slips. South Africa had lost their first wicket for just three runs.

Fast bowlers Kumara and Sanjaya were part of the Test squad – with Kumara playing the second and third Tests – while Vandersay replaced Prasanna in a legspinner-for-legspinner swap. Kumara, who has played four Tests, is yet to play a short-format game at the senior level, while Sanjaya is yet to make his international debut.

This means Sri Lanka’s squad now contains four players uncapped in the ODI format, including the allrounder Lahiru Madushanka and the wicketkeeper-batsman Sandun Weerakkody.

Allrounder Thikshila made his international debut during the T20 series, playing all three matches, batting twice – once at No. 4 – for scores of 3 and 0, and sending down just the one over. Prasanna, meanwhile, took two wickets in the three games and conceded 8.42 runs an over, while also contributing a match-winning, unbeaten 16-ball 37 in the decider at Newlands.

Udana, the left-arm quick, played two of the T20s, taking 3 for 13 in the second game at the Wanderers. Originally part of the ODI squad – having not played a 50-over game for Sri Lanka since July 2012 – he has now been left out.

Sri Lanka ODI squad: Upul Tharanga (captain), Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Dhananjaya Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Sandun Weerakkody, Kusal Mendis, Asela Gunaratne, Chathuranga de Silva, Sachith Pathirana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lakshan Sandakan, Lahiru Madushanka, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lahiru Kumara, Suranga Lakmal, Vikum Sanjaya.

Herath followed up his five-wicket haul in the first innings with 5 for 45 in the second as Zimbabwe, set 491 to win, went to stumps on the fourth evening on 180 for seven.

The feat not only took Herath to 50 wickets in the calendar year — in just his eighth Test — but also gave him the seventh 10-wicket match haul in his career.

The tourists began the fourth day on 102 for four in their second innings, with an overall lead of 334, and spent the first half of the day extending that advantage.
With Dimuth Karunaratne anchoring the innings with a patient 88 and Kusal Perera adding a quickfire 62 towards the end, Sri Lanka were able to declare their second innings on 258 for nine to set Zimbabwe 491 to win.

Left with 136 overs to bat in order to save the match, Zimbabwe were soon reduced to 39 for three before a 74-run stand for the fourth wicket between Sean Williams and Craig Ervine briefly revived them.

Once Williams edged to slip off Lahiru Kumara to fall for 45, Sri Lanka were able to chip away at the middle order and move within three wickets of a 2-0 series sweep.

Ervine reached stumps unbeaten on 65, with Donald Tiripano for company.

AFP

To add to their woes vice-captain, top batter and wicket-keeper Dinesh Chandimal won’t be making the tour to Zimbabwe as he has still not fully recovered from a thumb injury which he sustained playing in a Mercantile ‘A’ division match last month. The injury required surgery.

Chandimal’s place is filled by the Sri Lanka Army SC’s uncapped 30-year-old right-hand batting all-rounder Asela Gunaratne who has been amongst the runs in the ongoing unofficial test series against West Indies A.

Chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya stated that he was hopeful that Chandimal would recover in time for the one-day tri-series against Zimbabwe and West Indies that starts at Harare on November 14.

The two Tests against Zimbabwe are scheduled to be played at Harare from October 29-November 2 and November 6-10.

The delay in releasing the squad which was picked over a week ago was due to the fitness concerns surrounding key players especially the fast bowlers..

Eventually the Lankan selectors were left with only Suranga Lakmal as the fast bowler who was fit for selection amongst the experienced lot.

How weak the Lankan pace bowling line-up is can be gauged by the fact that Lakmal although being the most experienced of the five fast bowlers picked for the tour has never produced a five-wicket innings haul in Tests in the six years he has played for his country. In 29 Tests he has 60 wickets at an average which is usually associated with a batsman – 49.40. The selectors have no option but to pick him as the spearhead of the fast bowling attack.

“We have picked the best possible line-up of fast bowlers available to us,” said chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya.

“Kasun Madushanka has been bowling well in the ongoing series against West Indies A and Lahiru Gamage is the most experienced Sri Lanka A bowler we have. We picked Lahiru Kumara (Sri Lanka under 19 bowler) because he is good potential for the future,” he said.

All three fast bowlers are uncapped along with Gunaratne. Adding to the woes of the long list of fast bowling injuries are two young fast bowlers Asitha Fernando (hamstring) and Vishwa Fernando (back injury).

Sri Lanka are already beset by injuries to key fast bowlers Dhammika Prasad (shoulder), Nuwan Pradeep (hamstring), Dushmantha Chameera (back stress fracture) and one-day specialist Lasith Malinga (knee). They have also lost the services of Shaminda Eranga reported for a suspect bowling action.

In the absence of Chandimal, Jayasuriya said that Niroshan Dickwella who has been picked in the squad would most probably be taking over the wicket-keeping gloves although there is also Kusal Perera who has kept wickets for Sri Lanka in Tests.

Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva are the two established openers, but Perera can also play the dual-purpose role of opener or late order batsman. The Lankan batting seems settled with the exception of Chandimal whose absence will put extra pressure on the rest of the batters to perform.

The spin department is once again headed by the experienced and most capped current Sri Lanka Test player left-armer Rangana Herath who will be supported by off-spinner Dilruwan Perera and left-arm chinaman Lakshan Sandakan.

The match was unique in the annals of Sri Lanka cricket because a pink ball instead of the customary red was used for the first time in a match.

The pink ball is being trialed by virtually every Test playing country as the ICC at some point of time wants Test cricket to be played under lights.

The first over bowled with the pink ball by Sri Lanka under 19 fast bowler Asitha Fernando saw seven runs being scored by West Indies A openers Rajendra Chandrika and Keiran Powell.

However the opening partnership didn’t last long when off the second over Lahiru Kumara trapped Chandrika lbw for five.

West Indies A lost two further wickets to be 56-3 before skipper Sharmarh Brooks and Vishaul Singh staged a recovery with a partnership of 125.

But once Brooks was dismissed for a well compiled 65 off 107 balls (9 fours) West Indies A suffered another batting collapse losing three wickets for four runs to slump to 185-6. However with Singh putting up staunch resistance at one end, he found an able partner in Kemar Roach and the two raised the total by 66 before Sri Lanka A once again broke through to bowl them out.

Singh was unlucky to miss out on his hundred by four runs when he was caught by Sri Lanka Test player Lahiru Thirimanne who snapped up four catches. Singh hit nine fours in his 187 ball innings.

Roach was left stranded on 45 not out when the Lanka A bowler cleaned up the tail in quick succession. Gunaratne who broke the Brooks-Singh stand had the best figures among the bowlers with three for 27 off 16 overs.

Sri Lanka A faced one over without scoring a run. The match continues today.

Allrounder Milinda Siriwardana, who was in the squad for the first two games, was omitted in the only other change in the 16-man squad announced on Friday.

Kumara was part of Sri Lanka’s successful under-19 tour to England, where the youth test and ODI series were won recently. His teammate, batsman Avishka Fernando, was already in the senior squad as Sri Lanka looks to build a team for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Kumara, who has no first-class experience, took 19 wickets in both formats during the England tour.

Opening batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan will retire from ODI cricket after the third match in Dambulla, to give way for the team building. Dilshan has played 329 ODIs since his debut in 1999, and still ranks among the team’s best scorers.
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Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (captain), Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhanajaya De Silva, Angelo Perera, Avishka Fernando, Danushka Gunathilaka, Suranga Lakmal, Thisara Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Lakshan Sandakan, Amila Aponso, Lahiru Kumara.