West Indies 'A's second string bowlers were made to work extremely hard in conditions favouring batsmen at Police Park, when the Sri Lanka Colts XI led by Saman Jayantha amassed a total of 348 for six wickets on the opening day of the two-day lung-opener.
With West Indies 'A' resting captain Roger Harper and experienced fast bowlers Ottis Gibson and Cameron Cuffy, their bowling lacked sting to unsettle any of the young Colts batsmen who made the best use of the conditions to make worthwhile individual contributions.
The days batting honours after Jayantha had won the toss and batted, were shared by opener Russel Arnold and middle-order bat Indika de Saram, each making eighties.
Arnold, the leading run-getter of the 1995-96 season, carried on from where he had left off, by scoring an immaculate 85 in 176 minutes, inclusive of 15 fours. The tall left-hander was in a class of his own and scored his runs with exquisite timing.
De Saram, on the other hand, was in a totally different class displaying a wide range of shots as he raced to a half-century off 58 balls with four sixes and three fours. He made full use of a dropped catch at 34 to remain unbeaten on 81 by the close, having added a further four fours to his fifty. He was harsh on the two slow bowlers Nagamootoo and left-armer Samaroo, each of whom conceded two sixes.
Naveed Nawaz with 47 in 124 minutes (7 fours) and Varuna Waragoda with 50 in 127 minutes (5 fours) also joined the run parade as the batsmen took heavy toll of an inexperienced bowling line-up.
West Indies led by David Joseph, a right-hand batsman from Antigua persisted throughout the day with only four bowlers. The most successful of them were Nigel Francis and Samaroo. Francis, who shared the new ball with Laurie Williams, picked up the wickets of the two openers for 48 runs, while Samaroo, who bowls left-arm chinaman had 3 for 107 off 28 overs bowled in two spells.
The match will be continued Thursday at 10 a.m.
====> REPORT (Day 2, 31 October 1996)
Centuries from De Saram, Williams
By SA'ADI THAWFEEQ
West Indies 'A' had mixed fortunes on day two of their two-day tour opener against a Sri Lanka Colts XI which ended in a draw at Police Park, Bambalapitiya yesterday.
While opening batsman Stuart Williams played a memorable innings of 159 out of his side's total of 240, his namesake Laurie Williams was in agony in hospital with a broken nose by courtesy of Sri Lanka's new fast bowling prospect Nuwan Soysa.
The gangling six foot four inches tall Soysa was in a devastating mood claiming three wickets for 18 runs in a fiery nine-over opening spell. He had Philo Wallace caught off his fourth delivery of the innings and later went on to add the wickets of skipper David Joseph and Tony Powell before injuring Laurie Williams.
Soysa was well supported by spinner Suranga Wijenayake who also picked up three wickets, including that of century-maker Stuart Williams who was caught by Ruwin Peiris at deep extra cover.
Williams, with a record of 12 Tests behind him played freely not allowing the situation to deter his natural strokeplay. His 159 came off 165 balls and in a stay of 227 minutes he hit four sixes and 20 fours. He was largely responsible for holding the side to- gether when they had lost the first five wickets for just 52 runs. Em]Unbeaten on 34 at the lunch break, Williams raced to his century off 99 balls with a series of attractive strokes that saw him add 92 runs to his individual total in the afternoon session when West Indies 'A' made maximum use of some faltering fielding to score 128 runs without losing a wicket.
Indika de Saram duly completed his century after 36 minutes batting yesterday morning before Sri Lanka Colts declared at 373 for 6. It took De Saram 165 minutes and 118 balls for it, and he hit four sixes and 10 fours.