By Dhammika Ratnaweera
Sri Lanka A team aided by all round team performance beat the visiting Ireland A team on Monday in their first four-day unofficial match in Colombo. Thus the Sri Lankan take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Speaking in a post-match interview, Sri Lanka A team coach Avishka Gunawardena told www.srilankasports.com that although Ireland is a low-ranked cricket team, they played well in this match and Sri Lankan A team had proved their abilities well coping up to tough situations. “It was very good teamwork from everyone and we made it look comfortable at the end” said the coach.
Not only the Irish batsmen struggled in their first innings, Sri Lanka too faced similar situation when they were four wickets down for 42 runs. A steady partnership between experienced Milinda Sriwardena who went onto make a century and a youth hopeful Kamindu Mendis who was out for 91 made a 187 runs together to take Sri Lanka to a winning position.
“It was nice to see that Kamindu Mendis is performing consistently and gaining the necessary experience to adapt to different situations. He is a free stroke maker” said the coach, he himself was a free and hard-hitting opener in his playing days.
Lasith Embuldeniya, the young leg spinner took five wickets in the Ireland second innings. “Embuldeniya too is a good up and coming bowler and our duty is to prepare them for the next level in order to that they are ready to cope up the pressure in the international matches,” said Gunawardena adding that there will be few new players being tried in the next match.
The second unofficial test between the two teams will be played in Hambantota and will be followed by two One-day matches at the same venue.
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