Madushka shines, match fizzles out to a draw

Nishan Madushka piled on more runs, scoring 241, for Sri Lanka ‘A’ in their 1st unofficial Test against the visiting England Lions, which fizzled out and ended in a draw at the Galle Stadium yesterday.

Resuming from their overnight score of 580 for 3, Sri Lanka ‘A’ overnight pair of Madushka, unbeaten on 207, and Nipun Dhananjaya, on 89 not out, extended their fourthwicket partnership to 219 before Dhananjaya was dismissed for 129.

From there on Sri Lanka ‘A’ upped the scoring in search of quick runs and lost wickets at regular intervals which included that of Madushka, who made 241 with 25 boundaries and four sixes, before they declared their innings with the score on 663 for 9.

England Lions, chasing a target of 333, lost four quick wickets by the time they reached 71, but recovered thanks to a partnership of 84 between

Josh Bohannon and Jack Haynes.

Another partnership for 62 runs between Jamie Smith and Liam Patterson-white further frustrated Sri Lanka, before rain put an early

end to play with the Lions on 221 for 7.

The two teams will play their 2nd unofficial Test match from February 7 at the same venue.