Unbeaten century by Lahiru

by Ranjan ANANDAPPA

Left hander Lahiru Thirimanne struck an unbeaten 100 to see the Board XI reach 174 runs for two wickets in their second Innings in their drawn three-day practice match between the touring Australians and Sri Lanka Board XI at the P. Sara Oval yesterday.

Thirimanne struck twelve fours and a six facing 161 deliveries, while regular opener Tharanga Paranavithana who scored 49 in the first Innings was caught behind by Haddin off Copeland for 5.

The tourists took the maximum from the three-day game as Usman Khawaja (101) and skipper Michael Clarke (104) both were retired out to pave the way for the rest of the batsmen to obtain some valuable batting practice prior to the First Test which is scheduled to start on August 31 at the Galle International Stadium. Besides Khawaja and Clarke, Opener Phil Hughes struck 76 while putting on 153 runs for the first wicket on them first day.

Pakistan born left hander Usman Khawaja seemed to have established himself to fill the vacant number six slot in the Australian batting line up, while Trent Copeland who produced an excellent spell of fast bowling to capture 5 for 47 also nudged the selectors on tour for a place in the opening bowling attack with Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris.

Sri Lanka (Board XI 258) (T. Paranavithana 49, L. Thirimanne 32, D. Chandimal 59, Thisara Perera 36, Trent Copeland 5 for 47, Michael Beer 2 for 42). and 174 for 2 in 49 overs at close (L. Thirimanna 100 n.o, T. Samaraweera 24, A. Mathews 30 n.o.)

Australia (311 for 5 overnight) 393 in 121.3 overs (Phil Hughes 76, Usman Khawaja 101 retired out, Michael Clarke 104 retired out, Dilruwan Perera 3 for 137, Kosala Kulasekera 2 for 62)