Sri Lanka A prevail in high drama to square series
Sri Lanka A prevailing by 3 wickets in the second and final Test match going down to the wire against the British Lions at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium in a tension filled game in a last gasp countdown to an honourable 1-all squaring up of the 2-match series was high stuff.
That Sri Lanka did it reaching the 90-run victory target in a compelling run chase to reaching home with 15 minutes to stumps indeed set apart the triumph in to the gripping in the final analysis of the second unofficial Test.
Given the high scoring tempo that filled the 4-day game with the England Lions first making 353 and Sri Lanka run feasting in turn to the tune of 548, the final drum up as Sri Lanka scrambled through was remarkably see sawing.
The fluctuating fortunes were highlighted by the game reaching a pitch of one-day drama as the home side held their nerve to clinch victory with Malinda Pushpakumara, the hero with ball following up his 13-wicket match haul, slamming the winning boundary. It was a truly ego end scripted by the spin-all-rounder to boot having troubled the English with a second innings 5 for 78 in the wake of his 8 in the first essay.
Victory of course, looked within Sri Lanka’s grasp much earlier when Pushpakumara had choked the English, but for a dogged unbeaten century by L.S. Livingstone. But Sri Lanka prospered to live through to level the series with Dimuth Karunaratne and Sadeera Samarawickrema putting icing to the cake tons as much as a captain’s half century by Dhananjaya de Silva. The opposition from here shifts to the biff bang cricket shortly.
By Srian Obeyesekere
-The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Sri Lanka Cricket-
