Day 4 Close South Africa A 483 for 8 dec and 220 for 9 dec drew with Sri Lanka 272 for 9 dec and 239 for 4 (Atapattu 88, Sangakkara 70) Sri Lanka drew the opening match of their tour against South Africa A at the De Beers Diamond Oval in Kimberley after they declined to chase a virtually impossible target of 432 runs in a minimum of 70 overs. They ended on 239 for 4 with Marvan Atapattu scoring 88 to add to his first-innings hundred.

Enjoying an effective lead of 349 runs with five wickets in hand at the start of the final day, South Africa A lost three wickets in four overs to crash from 138 for 8 to 145 for 8. Chaminda Vaas had Robin Peterson caught behind for 9, Russel Arnold dismissed Justin Ontong for 19 and Andrew Hall was well caught in the outfield by Tharanga Laksitha off Vaas for 4.

Steve Elworthy and wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile added 72 for the ninth wicket, effectively condemning the match to a draw, before Elworthy was bowled by a shooter from Dilhara Fernando for 45.

Sri Lanka opted for batting practice and Atapattu looked set for his second hundred of the match when he was well caught by Neil McKenzie off Elworthy. Kumar Sangakkara contributed an 11-boundary 70 and Mahela Jayawardene made 39.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd