Jayasuriya, Pushpakumara sweep WI A away
The two spinners finished with match hauls of eight wickets each to clinch the unofficial Test series for Sri Lanka 2-1
ESPNcricinfo staff
29-Oct-2017
Sri Lanka A 273 (de Silva 64, Silva 52, Leveridge 2-25) and 27 for 0 beat West Indies A 181 (Ambris 101, Pushpakumara 4-67) and 118 (Brooks 52, Jayasuriya 6-60, Pushpakumara 4-19) by ten wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
Left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara and offspinner Shehan Jayasuriya were at the forefront of Sri Lanka A's series-clinching win in the third unofficial Test against West Indies A, with a match haul of eight wickets each. Their combined efforts meant West Indies A were limited to scores of 181 and 118 in their two innings, to hand Sri Lanka A a comfortable ten-wicket win within two days of play.
Pushpakumara, who had a haul of 12 wickets in the second four-dayer, took 4 for 67 in the first innings, with support from Lahiru Kumara and Jayasuriya, who picked up two each. West Indies A's innings of 181 was propped up single-handedly by Sunil Ambris, who scored his fifth first-class century, even as no other West Indies A batsman managed to score more than 20.
Sri Lanka A then took a 92-run lead despite a few stutters with the bat. Captain Dhananjaya de Silva top-scored with 64, while Roshen Silva contributed 52 before retiring hurt.
Jayasuriya then took centre stage, accounting for West Indies A's top six for returns of 6 for 60. Like their first innings, only one West Indies A batsman managed a score of more than 20; in this instance captain Shamarh Brooks hit 52. Pushpakumara ran through the lower order, with 4 for 19, to leave Sri Lanka A with a target of 27 runs to win. The visitors needed only 5.5 overs to reach the target on the third evening.