Croospulle, Ramesh strike fifties to thwart Muthusamy’s threat

Ramesh Mendis boosted the Sri Lanka ‘A’ lower order with a robust 78

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Following a dismal unofficial ODI series against South Africa ‘A’ where he made just eight runs in three innings with a top score of four, Lasith Croospulle was not doing justice to his rare talent as a top order batsman so that Head Coach Avishka Gunawardene said that he expected a bit more from him considering the way he performed against England Lions.

Yesterday, given the opportunity, Croospulle came out with all guns blazing to score a brilliant 98 off 119 balls inclusive of 11 fours and four sixes that saw Sri Lanka ‘A’ deciding to bat first post a first innings total of 325 on the first day of the first unofficial 4-day test at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

Croospulle and Lahiru Udara (42 with 7 fours) laid the foundation with an opening stand of 66. At one stage at 189-3, Sri Lanka ‘A’ were looking at a total beyond 400 plus, but a middle order collapse saw them lose four wickets for 28, before Sri Lanka Test cap Ramesh Mendis lifted the innings with a forceful knock of 78 off 89 balls (12 fours) that saw them to their final total.

Mendis found support from Lasith Embuldeniya (15) and Milan Ratnayake (23*) with whom he managed to raise the total by 101 before becoming one of four lbw victims of left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy.

The Durban-born all-rounder troubled all the batsmen with his uncanny accuracy and craftiness, praying on the batsmen’s patience to finish with excellent figures of 7 for 122, his 11th five-fer in 99 first-class matches.

The match continues on its second day today.

Scores: Sri Lanka ‘A’ 325 (Lasith Croospulle 98, Lahiru Udara 42, Kamindu Mendis 28, Ramesh Mendis 78, Milan Ratnayake 23*, Kwena Maphaka 2/43, Senuran Muthusamy 7/122) v South Africa ‘A’.