CANBERRA - Tillak-aratne Dilshan hit an unbeaten century and Kumar Sangakkara chipped in with a half-century as the touring Sri Lankans got in some batting practice on Friday ahead of next week's first Test against Australia.
Sri Lanka reached second day stumps at 276 for four in reply to the Chairman's XI 439 for six declared in their three-day tour match at Manuka Oval in Canberra. While the tourists were still 163 runs behind the Chairman's XI's hefty total, they showed plenty of spirit and even more batting. Dilshan retired his innings at 101 at the tea break, deciding his 152-ball knock, which included 15 boundaries, had been sufficient batting practice ahead of the three-Test series with Australia, which starts in Hobart next Friday. Sangakkara hit 55 off 109 balls with six fours before he was leg before wicket to Usman Khawaja late in the day.
Young West Australian offspinner Ashton Turner made the initial breakthrough ending the 105-run opening partnership between Dilshan and Dimuth Karunaratne when he had the young left-hander Karunaratne caught at mid-on by Marcus Harris for 40.
Victorian allrounder Glenn Maxwell came in for some punishment from Dilshan and, in particular, Mahela Jayawardene, whose first scoring shot was a prodigious six over long-on.
But Maxwell exacted some revenge when a more-flighted delivery deceived Jayawardene (36) for a caught and bowled. Wicketkeeper-batsman Prasanna Jayawardene chipped in to be unbeaten on 24 while Dinesh Chandimal is 12 not out at the close.
Chairman's XI opener Scott Henry reached a double century before the hosts automatically declared their first innings after 100 overs, as per the rules of the three-day game. The invitational side added 49 runs to their overnight score as Henry belted six more boundaries to finish unbeaten on 207. Dhammika Prasad picked up the wickets of Travis Head (35) and Sam Whiteman (4) to finish with 2-128.
SCOREBOARD
CHAIRMAN'S XI 1ST INNINGS:
S Henry not out 207
M Harris c Dilshan b Eranga 20
U Khawaja c Jayawardene b Welegedara 56
A Doolan b Randiv 6
G Maxwell b Pradeep 91
T Head c Welegedara b Prasad 35
S Whiteman c & b Prasad 4
D Solway not out 5
EXTRAS: (b5, lb8, nb2) 15
TOTAL: (6 wkts decl; 100 overs) 439
FOW: 1-47, 2-170, 3-193, 4-318, 5-391, 6-402
BOWLING: Welegedara 26-4-93-1, Eranga 13-8-22-1, Prasad 20-1-128-2, Randiv 23-1-121-1, Dilshan 3-0-9-0, Pradeep 15-4-53-1
SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS:
D Karunaratne c Harris b Turner 40
T Dilshan retired out 101
K Sangakkara lbw b Khawaja 55
M Jayawardene c & b Maxwell 36
P Jayawardene not out 24
D Chandimal not out 12
EXTRAS: (6lb, nb2) 8
TOTAL: (4 wickets, 78 overs) 276
FOW: 1-105, 2-154, 3-216, 4-258
BOWLING: Butterworth 11-1-27-0, Gale 18-5-43-0, Rainbird 16-4-51-0, Maxwell 16-0-73-1, A Turner 12-1-54-1, Khawaja 5-1-22-1