SA'ADI THAWFEEQ reporting from Matara
Left-arm orthodox spinners Ashley Giles and Dean Cosker took seven wickets between them to dismiss Sri Lanka 'A' for 171 on the first day of the Second Unofficial Cricket Test at the Uyanwatte Stadium here yesterday.
By the close England 'A' had replied with 47 for one, having lost skipper Nick Knight for nought to the third ball of the innings.
Steve James (23) and Darren Maddy (22) have so far put on 46 runs in an unfinished partnership for the second wicket.
Sri Lanka A's decision to bat first after winning the toss on an over-watered pitch was a rather surprising.
An opening partnership of 43 between skipper Russel Arnold and Avishka Gunawardana turned out to be the highest of the innings, although there was a late rally of 41 for the seventh wicket between Manoj Mendis and Hemantha Boteju.
Only Gunawardana's entertaining 51 off 57 balls (10 fours) and Mendis' cultured knock of 58 in 127 minutes (9 fours) stood out for Sri Lanka 'A' as their batsmen floundered to counter the spin of Giles and Cosker on a drying pitch.
Paul Hutchison took the first and last wickets to fall, leaving Ben Hollioake as the only right-arm bowler to take a wicket on a day dominated by left-armers.
The start of play was delayed by 45 minutes due to the wetness of the wicket, but the lost time was caught up later in the day.
England coach Mike Gatting was confident if his team could get around 350, they would push for a win from there onwards.
Sri Lanka 'A' suffered a late change when Sanjeewa Ranatunga was ruled out of the match due to illness. He was replaced by Mahela Jayawardene.
England 'A' were unable to give off-spinner Jonathan Powell a game as expected yesterday after it was found that he had an injured bowling finger.
Day 2: Hollioake century helps England 'A' to lead by 89 runs
Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from Matara
BEN HOLLIOAKE, younger brother of England's successful one-day captain Adam Hollioake scored his maiden first-class century to help England 'A' gain a useful first innings lead of 89 runs over Sri Lanka 'A' in the second unofficial cricket 'Test' played at the Uyanwatte Stadium here yesterday.
England 'A' were dismissed for 260 by the end of the second day in reply to Sri Lanka 'A's first innings of 171.
The tall 20-year-old Surrey right-hander Ben Hollioake made 103 in 234 minutes off 169 balls hitting nine fours and two sixes - one of which he reached his century, which turned the game around in England 'A's favour.
The Melbourne-born cricketer had passed fifty on four occasions, the highest being 68, before finally reaching three figures.
It was an innings which has given England 'A' the upperhand in this match on a deteriorating pitch after Sri Lanka 'A' had reduced them to 122 for 7.
England 'A' let off
Sri Lanka 'A' are to blame for allowing the situation to get out of hand after having England 'A' virtually down on their knees. Part time bowlers Russel Arnold and Mahela Jayawardene bowled 15 of the 30 overs sent down during the afternoon session while frontline off-spinner Arshad Junaid got only two.
England's late order making full use of these mistakes added 138 runs for the last three wickets. Hollioake and Ashley Giles (39) added 97 for the eighth wicket and a further stand of 31 followed by the last pair of Dean Cosker (13) and Paul Hutchison (11 not out), which occupied 69 minutes.
Six of the England 'A' wickets fell to leg-before decisions largely due to the batsmen failing to read left-arm spinner Niroshan Bandaratilake's arm ball which went straight through and to the batsmen being committed on the back foot.
Bandaratillake bowled impressively to finish with figures of 4 for 57 off 33 overs. He was admirably supported by teenage off-spinner Junaid, who in his first-class debut took 3 for 61 off 21 overs.
Sri Lanka 'A' crawl to 196 for 3
Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from Matara
Skipper Russel Arnold and wicket-keeper Pubudu Dassanayake hit painstaking half-centuries as Sri Lanka 'A' batted throughout the third day to crawl to 196 for three wickets in the second unofficial cricket Test against England 'A' at the Uyanwatte stadium here yesterday.
Trailing England 'A' by 89 runs on the first innings, Sri Lanka 'A' now have an overall lead of 107 runs with seven wickets in hand going into the fourth and final day today.
With the pitch not showing any signs of wear and tear, setting England 'A' a target to chase in the fourth innings will depend largely on how Sri Lanka 'A' progress in the final morning.
The first 'Test' of the three-match series ended in a tame draw at Kurunegala and unless Sri Lanka 'A' declare and open out, this 'Test' too seems destined to go the same way.
Sri Lanka 'A' lost a wicket in each of the three sessions as they adopted a cautious approach in wiping out the first innings deficit.
Arnold and Avishka Gunawardana put on 57 for the first wicket, before the latter going for a big hit was bowled by left-arm spinner Dean Cosker for 31.
Gunawardana made his runs in 84 minutes batting four fours and a superb six over point off Ben Holliote.
Arnold's 236 minutes of watchful defence was ended by the other left-arm spinner Ashley Giles who had him caught at forward short-leg flicking off his legs. Arnold made 79 off 197 balls hitting nine fours and added 82 for the second wicket with Pubudu Dasanayake.
Mahela Jayawardene a centurian in the Kurunegala Test suffered a double failure here when he was dismissed for nine. Jayawardene who made six in the first innings played on to a delivery from Giles to make Sri Lanka 'A' 164 for three.
Dassanayake promoted in the batting order to number three to provide a left-hand/right-hand combination to counter the two left-arm spinners, was overcautious in his approach using as many as 183 balls and 245 minutes for his fifty which comprised four fours.
Naveed Nawaz followed in the same pattern as his predecessors taking 84 minutes for 13 runs.
Day 4: England 'A' win by one wkt
Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from Matara
England 'A' beat Sri Lanka 'A' by one wicket with just two balls to spare to provide a nerve-tingling finish to the second 4-day unofficial cricket Test concluded at the Uyanwatte Esplanade here yesterday.
A game which seemed to be drifting towards a drab draw was suddenly brought to light when Sri Lanka closed their second innings at 280 for 9 wickets, 43 minutes after lunch setting England 'A' a winning target of 192 off 49 overs.
England 'A' responded to the challenge magnificently and despite losing their first four wickets for 51 runs maintained the run chase through their fifth wicket pair of David Sales and Ben Hollioake who made 45 apiece and shared a partnership of 86 in 65 minutes.
The introduction of schoolboy off spinner Arshad Junaid at the commencement of the 15 mandatory overs when England 'A' required 57 for victory changed the complexion of the game.
Junaid struck in his first over clean bowling Sales for 47 scored off 47 balls with two sixes and three fours and went onto cause further indentation by dismissing Nash, Brown and Cosker to reduce England 'A' to 183 for 9.
Ashley Giles who made 39 in the first innings and last man Paul Hutchison held their nerve to see England through to an exciting finish. The scores were tied with five balls to go before Hutchison swept Junaid to short fine leg and ran the decisive single as Ruchira Perera misfielded in the heat of the excitement.
Junaid in his maiden first-class match cut a figure for a schoolboy of 17 years finishing with 4 for 51 and a match bag of 7 for 112. Left-arm spinner Niroshan Bandaratilleke had match figures of 6 for 139.
Overall, it was a good game of cricket, and the finish was totally unexpected considering the pace at which the game was played in the first three days.