Perera hits belligerent 150 as team folds
On the day Tillakaratne Dilshan officially announced his retirement, Kusal Perera made a play at his vacated opening position, slamming 150 from 142 balls on a rain-effected day three of the four-dayer at the P Sara Oval
Andrew Fidel Fernando
10-Oct-2013
Development XI 299 for 9 (Perera 150, Jayasuriya 56, Senanayake 3-82) trail Board XI 575 all out (Silva 125, Sangakkara 107, Eranga 4-95) by 276 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
On the day Tillakaratne Dilshan officially announced his retirement, Kusal Perera made a play at his vacated opening position, slamming 150 from 142 balls on a rain-effected day three of the four-dayer at the P Sara Oval. Development XI could not offer much else with the bat though, as they finished the day on 299 for 9, in response to Board XI's 575.
Offspinner Sachithra Senanayake took three wickets in the day, while medium-pace bowlers Nuwan Kulasekara and Suranga Lakmal took two apiece. Board XI will struggle to push for an outright win however, after 49 overs were lost to rain early in the day.
Perera began the day on 70, and though he lost overnight partner Shehan Jayasuriya in the first over, he continued to score briskly, as he had the previous evening. Development XI lost four batsmen to pace bowling in the first 12 overs of the day, during which Perera scored all but six of the runs to come off the bat. He hit12 fours and six sixes in his innings, and was eventually trapped in front by Senanayake.
Niroshan Dickwella was the only other batsman to make more than 15 on day three, hitting 42 before giving Ajantha Mendis his only wicket. Malinda Pushpakumara and Vishwa Fernando finished unbeaten at stumps.
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo's Sri Lanka correspondent. He tweets here