Karunaratne leads Sri Lanka ‘A’ to win

  Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne whose knock of 131 in the first inning hit an unbeaten 39 to guide Sri Lanka A to a seven wicket win against West Indies in the first unofficial Test match which concluded at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday to lead one up in the three match Test series.

The writing on the wall was there for West Indies A after their dismal batting on the third day which saw them collapse to a score of 165 for 9 and hanging to a just 55 runs lead.

The final day’s proceedings saw West Indies A last just under four overs to be precise 21 balls and being able to add only a further ten runs after last man Reynard Leveridge was dismissed by left arm spinner Lakshan Sandakan who bagged his fourth wicket.

This left Sri Lanka A a simple run chase of 66 runs as skipper Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne who was promoted to the top order gave them a sound start of 43 runs before being separated by spinner Rahkeem Cornwall.

Even though the host side lost two quick wickets skipper Karunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella saw them through as they reached the target in the 21st over for the lost of three wickets.

The two sides’ will play their second unofficial Test match from October 11 to 14 at the Pallekele International Stadium.

Wisden