Sri Lanka Board XI manage to draw against South Africa

South African exposed the young Board XI batsmen's frailty to pace when they shot them out for 109 runs in their two-day warm-up game which ended in a draw at the Saravanamuttu Stadium on Monday.

After South Africa had run up an imposing 441 for seven declared, the Board XI gave a sorry display against hostile fast bowling to last for only 37 overs.

Shaun Pollock, and Company gave an object lesson to the young Sri Lanka fast bowlers on how to get maximum out of the pitch by keeping the ball upto the batsmen with an occasional short-pitched delivery thrown in for good measure.

Although not taking anything away from the South Africans who bowled splendidly on the surface, it was a rather timid display by the batsmen more than anything else that led to their undoing.

South African coach Graham Ford described the pitch as "one of the better ones". "It had some decent pace for shot making and the bowlers who got the ball in the right place got a little bit of assistance, both spinners and the seamers. It is one of those pitches that's got the game moving forward, I think it is what spectators like to see. These sort of pitches are good for cricket," said Ford.

Neil McKenzie stretched his lengthy innings to 181 before offering a catch to wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene off Tilan Samaraweera. He batted 344 minutes and faced 248 balls hitting one six and 25 fours.

Ford thinks he is closer to getting his Test cap following his excellent display.

"Anybody who scores 181 is going to be a strong candidate to play in the Test match. He is certainly in equation. I would think he is very close to making his debut. It doesn't surprise us the way (Neil) McKenzie batted. We know what a capable player he is. He had a wonderful season back home. He's been travelling with us for a while now. That sort of innings I don't think surprises anybody," said Ford.

Pollock failed to add to his overnight total of 65 when he played on to Dilhara Fernando off the second over of the day. His dismissal ended a 155-run liaison with McKenzie for the fifth wicket.

South Africa batted for an hour adding a further 56 runs before declaring at 441 for 7.

By lunch, the Board XI were reeling at 31 for 4, and by tea they were all out for 109. Kaushalya Weeraratne, who will lead Sri Lanka under 19 to England later this month, indulged in some lusty hitting to top score with 38 inclusive of six fours.

South Africa batted a second time without enforcing the follow-on, and closed their second innings at 82 for 3, leaving the Board XI the 15 mandatory overs to score an impossible, 415 runs for victory.

The Board XI closed on 74 without loss, with Avishka Gunawardana scoring 40 off 42 balls with seven fours and Ian Daniel 22.

Ford was happy at the way the practice match worked out for his team. "Coming from an off season and after a one-day series it was important that we were able to give our batsmen some time at the crease. The bowlers also had a bit of a work today which was needed as well. Generally, things went pretty much to plan," said Ford.

He said that Darryl Cullinan (hamstring) and Paul Adams (groin) are coming along 'nicely' from their injuries. "They are both coming on better than we expected. We are pretty happy the way things are going," said Ford.