Lankans will hope to put up a better fight

Dickwella’s century in the first essay, the lone bright spot for visitors

A beleaguered Sri Lanka-A will hope to put up a fight against confident India-A in the second and final ‘Test’, which commences at the KSCA Stadium here on Friday.

The Sri Lankans need a quick turnaround from a shoddy show in the first outing at Belagavi, which resulted in a massive innings-and-205-run defeat.

Niroshan Dickwella’s attacking century in the first essay was the lone bright spot for the outmatched visitors. The lack of inspiration came as a surprise, given that the unit consists of several players with international experience like skipper Ashan Priyanjan, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan and Lahiru Kumara.

Much was expected from Dananjaya, but the spinner barely made an impact. Danajaya went for 136 runs for one wicket, and found little support from his slow partner Sandakan (one for 145).

India-A, on the other hand, fired on all cylinders. Priyank Panchal (160), Abhimanyu Easwaran (233), Anmolpreet Singh (116 n.o.) and Siddhesh Lad (76) powered the team to an imposing 622 for five declared, before leg-spinner Rahul Chahar returned an impressive eight-wicket match haul.

The home team, cheered by a partisan crowd, will take some beating.

Source: Read Full Article