Sri Lanka 'A' replaced SSC left-hander Hemantha Wickemeratne with Sebastianites batsman Sanjeeva Silva and, left out fast bowler Suresh Perera in their squad of 14 to play England 'A' in the two remaining unofficial one-day internationals to be played back to back at the Uyanwatte Stadium here today and tomorrow.
The stockily built Silva will fight for a place with all-rounder Pradeep Hewage in deciding the final eleven for the match.
Sri Lanka 'A' coach Roy Dias said the side will be finalised in the morning after a look at the pitch.
There was differing views expressed about the pitch when the third 4-day unofficial Test was played here from February 6. Eventually, the pitch held its own and produced the best match of the series - thrilling one-wicket victory with two balls to spare.
The main changes in the Sri Lanka 'A' line up is expected to come in the bowling with Ruchira Palliyaguru expected to share the new ball with Hemantha Boteju, and whether the left-arm spin of Niroshan Bandaratilake be preferred to the off-spin of Tilan Samaraweera.
Beaten 2-0 in the three-match unofficial Test series, Sri Lanka completely turned the tide with their comprehensive victory in Moratuwa. As a result, The Management is keen to make the minimum of changes in order to retain the winning combination. If they can persevere their form in Matara, the series should be theirs by the end of the day.
Sri Lanka excelled in all departments to pull off the win in Moratuwa. ``The whole team contributed. There was a big difference in the fielding with some of the senior players coming in,'' said Dias.
With five players who contributed towards England's success in Sharjah, the 'A' team will be wanting to prove that they are equals in the overs-limit game as well. England 'A' will need to forget their loss on Wednesday and pool all their available resources, and win today if they are to keep the series alive.
The teams: SRI LANKA (from): Ruwan Kalpage (captain), Avishka Gunawardana, Chandika Hathurusingha, Russel Arnold, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanjeeva Silva, Pradeep Hewage, Upul Chandana, Pubudu Dasanayake, Niroshan Bandaratilake, Hemantha Boteju, Ruchira Palliyaguru, Tilan Samaraweera, Indika Gallage.
ENGLAND 'A' (from): Nick Knight (captain), Darren Maddy, Ben Hollioake, Andrew Flintoff, Mark Ealham, Steve James, Ashley Giles, David Nash, Douggie Brown, James Ormond, Dean Cosker, Paul Hutchison, Owais Shah, Chris Read, Jonathan Powell, David Sales.
UMPIRES: T.M. Samarasinghe and I. Anandappa. Tomorrow : B.C. Cooray and P. Manual.