Tour Match: Sri Lanka Board XI v Indians at Colombo, 8-10 Aug 2001 CricInfo Live Report

Tour Match: Sri Lanka Board XI v Indians at Colombo, 8-10 Aug 2001
Rex Clementine

Indians 1st innings: Lunch - Day 2, Tea - Day 2,
Live Reports from previous days

FERNANDO AND WEERAKOON PROVIDE VITAL BREAKTHROUGHS

Medium pacer Dinusha Fernando and left arm spinner Sajeeva Weerakoon applied the brakes on the Indian batsmen to reduce them to 167 for three from 135 for none. The pair accounted for Sadagoppan Ramesh, Shiv Sunder Das and Mohammed Kaif on the second day of the three-day practice match at P Sara Stadium, Colombo. At the crease for India were skipper Sourav Ganguly (9 not out) and Dinesh Mongia (4 not out).

In the first over after lunch, the spin of Sajeeva Weerakoon was introduced. His first ball was a full toss and Das pulled the ball to the mid-wicket boundary to bring up his fifty and India's 100. The diminutive opener's 50 came in 83 balls and 121 minutes with 10 fours.

Immediately after, Sadagoppan Ramesh too went fast his fifty. He added another 13 after his 50 and made his way to the pavilion when he failed to read a slower delivery from Dinusha Fernando. Fernando bowling his eighth over of the match surprised Ramesh with some sharp rising deliveries and suddenly came up with the slower one which foxed the Tamil Nadu opener. Ramesh offered a simple catch to Chamara Silva at mid-off and was dismissed for 63 in 165 minutes and 104 deliveries with 11 boundaries.

Having added just seven runs to the total after the departure of Ramesh, Das too departed with India on 142. The Orissa opener went for a big heave off the left arm spinner and was clean bowled for 72 in 191 minutes and 121 balls with 12 fours.

India passed the 150 mark in 45.3 deliveries with Dinesh Mongia and Mohammed Kaif at the crease.

Dinusha Fernando who made the breakthrough for Sri Lanka after lunch got rid of Mohammed Kaif too. The 20-year-old Kaif tentatively played at a delivery and was caught behind by Kumar Sangakkara. When the third wicket fell India were 153 for three.

Fernando bowled well right throughout and troubled Sourav Ganguly. The Indian captain was surprised by a rising delivery and defended the ball awkwardly on more than one occasion.

RAMESH, DAS SET SIGHTS ON LONG PARTNERSHIP

The Indian opening pair of Sadagoppan Ramesh and Shiv Sunder Das handled the Sri Lankan new ball bowlers well as they put on 99 runs without losing a wicket at lunch on the second day of the three-day match at the P Sara Stadium, Colombo. Das is two short of his 50 while Ramesh needs three more to get to the landmark.

Play resumed after a delay of 45 minutes due to some damage on the pitch. On the first day too play was delayed by 30 minutes, due to a damp wicket.

All three Sri Lankan new ball bowlers failed to keep to a good line and length and gave away too many runs.

Das had a few anxious moments but managed to stay at the middle.

Soon after the start with India on 16, Das edged a Ruchira Perera delivery but the ball fell just short of Michael Vandort at second slip.

Sri Lankan fielders without the initial support from the bowler Ruchira Perera went up for a loud caught behind appeal against Sadagoppan Ramesh, but it appeared the ball had only taken the arm guard and the umpire disallowed the appeal.

Captain Thilan Samaraweera introduced the third seamer Suresh Perera from the Air Force Flats End in the 11th over of the innings replacing Dinusha Fernando, who gave away 23 runs in his first five overs.

Perera’ fourth delivery was edged by Das on the leg side, but wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara, hoping to don the gloves in the upcoming Test series, failed to hang on to the catch, putting down a clear chance. Das was on 35 then

With the Sri Lankan bowlers and fielders not having a good day, India brought up their 50 runs in 14.5 overs in 75 minutes.

With the Sri Lankan new ball bowlers not living up to the expectations skipper Thilan Samaraweera decided to bring himself on in the 16th over of the match from the New Press Box End. But the Indian openers played him well and scored 14 runs off the three overs he bowled before lunch.