Sri Lanka Test opener Dimuth Karunaratne and 21-year-old Colts CC right-hander Sadeera Samarawickrama hit career best scores as Sri Lanka A took a tight grip in the first 4-day unofficial test against England Lions at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium yesterday.
By the close of the third day Sri Lanka A enjoying a first innings lead of 195 had captured two England Lions wickets for 32 runs.
England Lions go into the fourth and final day today trailing by 163 runs with eight wickets in hand and face the prospect of surviving against the left-arm spin of Muthumudalige Pushpakumara who took eight wickets in the first innings and has already struck in the with one wicket in the second innings.
Karunaratne unbeaten on 140 overnight carried his score to 212 beating his previous highest score of 210 not out. He faced 319 balls and hit 23 fours.
Samarawickrama who figured in a massive 314-run fourth wicket stand with Karunaratne, surpassed his previous highest score of 130 in compiling an impressive 185 off 233 balls that had 26 hits to the boundary.
Sri Lanka A skipper Dhananjaya de Silva also weighed in with a fine knock of 74 off 95 balls that would have given his confidence some good as Sri Lanka A went onto total 548.
Scores: England Lions 353 and 32-2 in 11 overs at close.
Sri Lanka A 548 in 135.2 overs (333/3 o/n) (D Karunaratne 212, S Samarawickrama 185, Dhananjaya de Silva 74, J Vandersay 26, M Pushpakumara 20, T Curran 2/74, T Roland-Jones 3/67, O Rayner 4/164)
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