Sri Lanka fight back against Chairman’s XI

Saturday, 8 December 2012 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka’s batsmen have done what their bowlers couldn’t – get the better of an Australian outfit boasting almost as many teenagers as Test caps.

Unheralded NSW batsman Scott Henry completed his double century on the morning of day two, bringing the Chairman’s XI innings to a close at 6 (dec)-439 from 100 overs and highlighting a disastrous bowling display from the tourists.

But by stumps on Friday, led by a composed 101 from veteran opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, the tourists had fought back and restored some pride after Sri Lanka’s batsmen made themselves comfortable in the middle of Canberra’s Manuka Oval.

Dilshan was ably supported by star batsman Kumar Sangakkara (55) as the Lions reached 4-276 by stumps, still 163 in arrears after 78 overs.

Dilshan retired at the tea break, deciding his 152-ball knock, which included 15 boundaries, had been sufficient batting practice for the 36-year-old ahead of the three-Test series with Australia, which starts at Bellerive next Friday.

Dilshan said it had been important to not only regain some ascendancy in the match, but simply to spend some time on Australian wickets before the first Test in Hobart.

“We only have one practice game, I needed to spend some time in the middle,” he said. “…The thing is the wicket is really slow. There’s nothing for the bowlers. I spent some time trying to bat as long as possible, to have as long a period in the middle. I’m really enjoying the start of the tournament like this. I’m hoping to finish as strong as well this tournament.”

Teenage off-spinner Ashton Turner (1-54) made the first breakthrough, ending the 105-run opening partnership between Dilshan and Dimuth Karunaratne when he had the young left-hander caught at mid-on by Marcus Harris for 40. Fellow spinners Glenn Maxwell (1-73) and, surprisingly, captain Usman Khawaja (1-22), claimed the big scalps of Mahela Jayawardene (36) and Sangakkara respectively.

Maxwell (1-73) came in for some punishment from Dilshan and in particular Jayawardene, whose first scoring shot was a booming six over long-on, before exacting some revenge with a simple caught and bowled.

Chairman’s XI coach Troy Cooley said it was to be expected that the Sri Lankans would fight back in their three-day practice match, such was the strength of their batting line-up.

“History’s shown they are a good batting line-up,” he said. “We held them quite well I thought, and I look forward to taking a couple more wickets in the line-up.” Earlier, the Chairman’s XI added 49 runs to their overnight score as Henry belted six more boundaries to finish unbeaten on 207.

“When you come to Manuka we all know it’s a good place to bat and you need to bowl well to get results,” Cooley added.

“I thought we batted really well and Scotty batted extremely well and was well supported by the other boys... (It was) a good opportunity from Scott. He took advantage there and batted superbly.”Dhammika Prasad, who endured a terrible time in the middle on Thursday, picked up the wickets of Travis Head (35) and Sam Whiteman (4) to finish as the only multiple wicket-taker for Sri Lanka with 2-128.