By SA'ADI THAWFEEQ Former Sri Lanka Test opener Chandika Hathurusingha, who hardly misses out on an opportunity to play for his country scored a chanceless 90 on a day when England 'A' came back strongly in the last two sessions to take the honours in the third and final unofficial Test begun at the Moratuwa Stadium yesterday.
Sri Lanka 'A' winning the toss and batting first on a good flat pitch, will not be quite happy at the end of the day's proceedings finishing on 235 for 8 wickets.
An opening partnership of 64 between Hathurusingha and Duleep Samaraweera (22) saw Sri Lanka 'A' go to lunch happily placed on 87 for one, but England 'A' tightened up their game and it was a hard struggle for runs, there onwards.
Hathurusingha displaying unflagging concentration and the determination to succeed, batted throughout the first two sessions and was looking good for a hundred when he was beaten by the flight of left-arm spinner Dean Cosker and bowled.
Hathurusingha batted 277 minutes and faced 191 balls hitting 16 fours in a fine display of disciplined batting, which none of the other Sri Lankan batsmen could emulate, with the exception of perhaps Pradeep Hewage.
The Sri Lanka Under-19 World Cup captain, who reeled off three scores of 80 in the tournament in South Africa, showed the same determination of Hathurusingha to score 43 with four fours in a stay of 166 minutes.
With Bateesha de Silva contributing a useful 32 in 93 minutes, Hewage added 60 valuable runs for the sixth wicket. Just as when it looked like the pair would take Sri Lanka 'A' through to another day, James Ormond, the Leicestershire right-arm fast bowler dealt a double blow by dismissing Hewage (caught and bowled) and two balls later, trapping Prasanna Jayawardena leg before wicket without scoring, with the second new ball.
Ormond's fourth spell of the day gave him 2 for 11 off four overs. He was also responsible for getting through the Sri Lanka top order when in his second spell he captured the wickets of Test players Sanjeeva Ranatunga (12) and skipper Hashan Tillekeratne (11), conceding 10 runs in six overs.
Ranatunga moved too far across to expose his leg stump, and Tillekeratne battling to regain form ahead of next month's South African tour, made a poor impression when he gloved a sharp rising ball to the wicket-keeper, after being softened up a few balls earlier by a short-pitched delivery from ormond which struck him on the face.
Ormond who found exceptional lift from the pitch troubled all the batsmen and used wisely by skipper Nick Knight, in short bursts, finished the day with figures of 4 for 38 off 18 overs, a good reward for an excellent day's work.
Day 2: Maddy 94 not out helps England 'A' to make strong reply 163/2
Pramodya and Niroshan help Sri Lanka 'A' to 371
By Dilwin Mendis - Moratuwa Sports Cor
ENGLAND 'A' were 163 for 2 at the close in reply to Sri Lanka 'A' score of 371 all out on the second day of the third and final unofficial Test at Moratuwa Stadium.
Sri Lanka 'A' continuing their overnight score of 235 for 8 were all out for 371. A ninth-wicket partnership of 134 runs in 138 minutes between N. Bandaratilleke (66) and P. Wickremasinghe unbeaten with 76 was the highlight of the day's play.
Earlier Chandika Haturusingha (90) hit a chanceless innings while Pradeep Hewage hit up a polished 44 and Batheesha de Silva made 31 runs and the top order batsmen failed miserably.
For the visitors most successful bowlers were J. Ormond 4 for 76 and B. Hollioake 3 for 95. England 'A' skipper Nick Night used seven bowlers to get the strong Sri Lankan side out.
England 'A' in their turn replied with 163/2 in 55 overs. D. Maddy was unbeaten with 94 with eleven fours and two sixes and with him is M. Ealham on 23. Both N. Knight and O. Shah made 18 and 23 respectively.
Day 3: Umpire gifts Hollioake career-best 163
By Sa'adi Thawfeeq
Ben Hollioake rode on an umpires grave lapse for a catch behind the wicket to carve out a career best 163 for England 'A' in the third and final 4-day unofficial cricket Test against Sri Lanka 'A' at the Moratuwa Stadium yesterday.
Hollioake was on 15 when he nicked leg-spinner Malinga Bandara to wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardena, but umpire M. M. Mendis ruled him not out, much to the dismay of the Sri Lanka 'A' close-in fielders who appealed convincingly.
England 'A' who were 203 for 5 at the stage were all out for 466 by the end of the third day-taking a first innings lead of 95 runs. With today being the final day of the 'Test' time is not on Sri Lanka's side to force a winning decision in this Test. England 'A' having won at Matara by one wicket, seem assured of taking the 3-match series.
A 154-run sixth wicket stand in 157 minutes between Hollioake and Ashley Giles saw England 'A' recover from losing three wickets for eight runs off 24 balls in the first hour of the morning.
Resuming at a promising 163 for 2, England slumped to 184 for 5 before Hollioake and Giles reversed the fortunes again with their big partnership. Darren Maddy started the slump by running himself out going for his century. Maddy made 99 in 248 minutes with 11 fours and a six.
Hollioake, a class above the rest of his teammates, hit a magnificent 163 off 183 balls in 168 minutes. He struck 10 sixes and 17 fours and was dismissed trying to pull left-arm leg-spinner Niroshan Bandaratilake against the spin to deep mid-wicket.
The right-handed all-rounder from Surrey, completed his fifty and 100 with a boundary and topped it all by reaching his 150 with a six off Bateesha de Silva, who came in for heavy punishment being whacked for six sixes. Hollioake revelled against the Sri Lanka 'A' spinners, collecting all his 11 sixes off them. Bandara was hit for three and Bandaratilake one. From 16 to 54, Hollioake scored his runs in boundaries (1 six, 8 fours), and the third fifty of his innings comprised five sixes and two fours.
The century was Hollioake's second in successive matches in the series. He made his maiden first-class hundred in the Matara Test scoring 103.
With Giles (46 in 157 minutes), Chris Read (20) and James Ormond (39) providing excellent support, Hollioake was able to raise the England 'A' total by as much as 262 runs, to put the match out of Sri Lanka's reach.
Fast bowler Pramodaya Wickremasinghe bowled poorly being thumped around for three fours in his 19th over, during which period Hollioake completed his fifty in 84 minutes. De Silva also paid the penally for bowling short conceding 16 runs in his 23rd over. Although he took four wickets, it cost him 131 runs.
Bandaratilake was the most impressive of the Sri Lankan bowlers, gaining a lot of respect for his variations of flight and spin. He was rewarded with four wickets for 89 off 49.3 overs. Bandara in his maiden first-class match looked nervous and bowled plenty of bad balls to give away 113 runs for a solitary wicket.
Day 4: England 'A'take series 2 - nil
By SA'ADI THAWFEEQ
Sri Lanka 'A' suffered a sensational post-lunch collapse losing eight wickets for 71 runs to go down by seven wickets to England 'A' in the third and final unofficial cricket Test concluded at the Moratuwa Stadium yesterday.
Sri Lanka 'A' were dismissed for 168 in their second innings, 42 minutes after tea, leaving England 'A' a winning target of 74 in 18 overs. England 'A' knocked the runs off in the 15th over to take the 3-match series 2-0. The first 'Test' was drawn at Kurunegala and England 'A' won the second at Matara narrowly by one wicket.
Trailing by 95 runs on the first innings, Sri Lanka 'A' began the final day cautiously moving to 58 for one at lunch. But lack of application and direction towards saving the Test, contributed largely to their downfall although credit should go to Warwickshire's left-arm spinner Ashley Giles, who bowled a tantalising afternoon spell of 3 for 20 in 10 overs to send Sri Lanka 'A' tumbling towards defeat.
Giles finished with 5 for 42-off 24.3 overs and had good support from fellow left-arm spinner from Glamorgan, Dean Cosker who had figures of 3 for 46.
None of the Sri Lankan batsmen played the English spinners with any confidence. Only opener Duleep Samaraweera and middle-order batsman Pradeep Hewage contributed anything noteworthy scoring 47 and 42 respectively. One of the plus points of the Englishmen was that they never allowed any partnerships to flourish for a long time.
Samaraweera although making the top score, looked shaky in his 184 minutes at the wicket before getting run out. He was dropped at 36 by Jonathan Powell and survived a confident leg before wicket appeal shortly before lunch. Samaraweera struck six fours in his patchy innings.
Hewage in comparison showed more flair stroking six fours in his 81-minute stay at the wicket. He was caught out at short extra cover by England 'A' skipper Nick Night, who positioned himself there having noted Hewage's tendency to drive uppishly.
Although England 'A' emerged victorious in this contest doubts still lingered whether the result would have been the same had Ben Hollioake been given out caught at the wicket on the third day. His contribution of 163 made a big difference to the totals which gave England 'A' a match-winning first innings lead of 95. It is not a victory that England should savour.
The two teams will now commence a three-match one-day international series, tomorrow at the same venue.