Academy contest ends in stalemate
Batsmen on both sides struggled as Sri Lanka Academy drew with their Bangladesh counterparts in a two-day game held in Dambulla
Cricinfo staff
08-Sep-2008
Sri Lanka Academy 211 (de Silva 71, Alam 4-26) and 124 for 3 (Mendis 61*) drew with Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy 205 (Shamsur 79, Gunathilake 3-39)
Scorecard
Scorecard
Batsmen on both sides struggled as Sri Lanka Academy drew with their Bangladesh counterparts in a two-day game in Dambulla. Both teams were dismissed for little over 200 in their first innings, but no decisive result was reached - Sri Lanka led by 130 runs with seven wickets remaining in the second innings when the match ended.
Sri Lanka chose to bat but suffered an early setback when Thilina Masmulla was dismissed by Mahbubul Alam in the first over. The second-wicket stand produced 68 before medium-pacer Ziaur Rahman dismissed Nadeera Nawela for 21 in the 18th over, and followed it up with the wicket of opposition captain Jeewan Mendis in his next over.
Opener Yohan de Silva top scored for the hosts with 71. He was out leg-before to Rubel Hossain after adding 51 for the fifth wicket with wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal, who made 32. There were also useful 20s from Sachith Pathirana and Kushal Janith Perera, Chandimal's team-mates at the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, but Alam came back and picked up three lower-order wickets to bowl out Sri Lanka for 211 in 59 overs.
Bangladesh lost both their openers before stumps on the first day, but were bolstered by Shamsur Rahman's brisk 86-ball 79. He added 76, the highest partnership of the match, for the third wicket with captain Naeem Islam, who needed 67 balls for his 14. Sri Lanka reduced the visitors to 152 for 7, but Suhrawadi Shuvo scored 35 at No. 9 to boost his team's score to 205. Spinner Shashendra Gunathilake finished with 3 for 39, while opening bowler Akalanka Ganegama took 2 for 39.
Sri Lanka also lost a wicket in the first over of the second innings - de Silva out for 0 - but an unbeaten 61 from Mendis steered them to 124 for 3. Shuvo took two wickets in the innings, to add to his two in the first. Sri Lanka used 14 players in the game; Bangladesh fielded 15; only 11 were allowed to bat or take the field.
Bangladesh's next match is a four-day game against a Sri Lanka Cricket Development XI, which starts on September 10 in Dambulla.
