Second 'Test' concludes in stalemate

Sri Lanka `A' batted out an anti-climatic final day of the unofficial `Test' at the NCC grounds in Colombo to secure a draw and set-up a series decider in the final game in Galle on Monday.

Pakistan doused hopes of an entertaining finale when they elected to bat on for an hour in the morning. Having added 43 runs they finally declared, setting Sri Lanka an unrealistic target of 290 in 72 overs. Having lost Avishka Gunawardene early on, it soon became clear that Sri Lanka had no intention of chasing victory. They grimly occupied the crease for 71 overs, scoring at less than two runs per over, whilst the Pakistan captain used ten bowlers in all, including Humayun Farhat, the wicketkeeper.

When, to widespread relief, the umpires finally called it a day Sri Lanka were 129 for three. In their defense, Pakistan were handicapped by a back injury to, Irfan Fazil, their fastest bowler. Nevertheless, their undue conservatism was disappointing and somewhat perplexing "surely their best chance of victory was to encourage the Sri Lankans to chase?"

Mudasser Nazar, the Pakistan coach, admitted afterwards that his team had missed an opportunity: "I am disappointed; I thought that we could have pushed the issue a bit more, but we lost our way after tea yesterday when we lost those quick wickets. "Originally we wanted to score 290-300 and give ourselves a whole day to bowl them out. Maybe the target was a little bit too stiff."

"The scoring rate has been very disappointing. I think the players are cautious because they are playing for the `A' team and that they are so desperate to break into the national team. This can have a negative impact on the team, but I am addressing this."

The Sri Lankan coach, Hemantha Devpriya, agreed, adding: "The Sri Lankan selectors are looking for batsmen who can occupy the crease for long periods of time and the players themselves are well aware of that." The teams now depart for Galle where they play again in just two days time.