Sri Lanka A undone by the off-spin of burly Antiguan Rahkeem Cornwall were struggling to stave off a possible defeat at the hands of West Indies A in the second 4-day unofficial test played at the Pallekele International Stadium yesterday.
By the end of the third day Sri Lanka A set a tall target of 481 runs for victory were floundering at 36 for two wickets having lost Test batsmen Dimuth Karunaratne for 3 and Lahiru Thirimanne for 4 to the West Indies A quicks.
They trail West Indies A by 445 runs with eight second innings wickets in hand going into the fourth and final day today.
Sri Lanka A resuming their first innings at 128 for 4 in reply to West Indies A total of 509-9 declared were boosted by a sixth wicket stand of 91 between Niroshan Dickwella and Asela Gunaratne after overnight batsman Karunaratne was dismissed early in the day for 68 adding only two to his overnight score. West Indies were denied a wicket for the next 24 overs by Dickwella and Gunaratne who carried the total to 225 when Dickwella’s dismissal for a well compiled 88 sparked off a collapse that saw Sri Lanka A lose their last five wickets for 20 runs and be all out for 245.
Dickwella struck nine fours in his 143-balls innings and Gunaratne’s 46 off 92 balls comprised three fours and a six.
The collapse was triggered by Cornwall whose probing off-breaks have exposed the frailties of the Lankan batsmen against spin.
Cornwall took four of the last five wickets to fall to finish with impressive figures of 6 for 91 off 30 overs. His performance followed a career best effort of 8 for 108 in the first unofficial test which Sri Lanka A won in Colombo. Although enjoying a first innings lead of 264 West Indies A did not enforce the follow-on but batted a second time rattling off 216-3 in 41 overs before declaring an hour before the close.
West Indies Test opener Rajendra Chandrika completed twin fifties when he followed his first innings knock of 84 with a compact 68.
Shamarh Brooks and Jamarh Hamilton also completed fifties before the innings closure.
Sri Lanka A leads the three-match series 1-0.
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