By M. Shamil Amit 

Sri Lanka ‘A’ opener Nishan Madushka’s third ton against the visiting England Lions was the highlight of the drawn 2nd unofficial Test concluded at the Galle International Stadium on Friday.

The writing was on the wall when play ended on day three with Sri Lanka ‘A’ batting the second time having ended the day on 202 for 3 with Madushka unbeaten on 84.

The third day’s proceeding saw Sri Lanka ‘A’ losing their first wicket with the addition of 17 runs to their overnight score with Madushka’s dismissal after reaching his ton from 125 balls inclusive of 16 boundaries and a six. Madushka earlier made 150 in the three-day warm up match and 241 in the 1st unofficial Test match.

From there on Sri Lanka ‘A’ lost wickets at regular intervals before Lahiru Udara, who made 63, and Lakshitha Manasinghe who chipped in with 43 shared a brief 41-run stand for the sixth-wicket for the hosts to end with a score of 356 runs for a lead of 283 runs.

England Lions chasing a target of 284 runs for victory found the right arm spinner Manasinghe too hot to handle as he made them struggle for their runs before bad light put a stoppage to the play with the visitors on 173 for 7. Manasinghe ended with a five-wicket haul.

The two teams will meet each other in three ODIs with the first scheduled to be played on February 15, the second on February 18 and the third on February 21. All the matches will be played at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Sri Lanka ‘A’ 332 (Lasith Croospulle 128, Nipun Dhananjaya 61, Lakshitha Manasinghe 43, Lasith Embuldeniya 42, Nishan Madushka 22, Nuwanindu Fernando 22: Josh Tongue 5 for 76, Sam Cook 2 for 69, Matthew Fisher 2 for 83) and (202/3 overnight) 356 (Nishan Madushka 100, Kamindu Mendis 67, Lahiru Udara 63, Lasith Croospulle 47, Lakshitha Manasinghe 43, Nipun Dhananjaya 15: Jack Carson 4 for 94, Josh Tongue 3 for 77)

England Lions 405 (Jamie Smith 126, Alex Lees 97, Josh Bohannon 54, Josh Tongue 29, Liam Patterson-White 24, Matthew Fisher 35 n.o.: Chamika Karunaratne 4 for 84, Vishwa Fernando 3 for 83, Praveen Jayawickrama 2 for 59) and 173 for 7 (Haseeb Hameed 47, Matthew Fisher 22, Tom Abell 20, Josh Bohannon 34 n.o.: Lakshitha Manasinghe 5 for 61)