BANGALORE, Nov 28: Sri Lanka struggled with both bat and ball in their rain-hit three-day tour match against an Indian Board President’s XI which ended in a tame draw on Monday. The hosts piled on 317 for four wickets before declaring after lunch and then reduced the tourists to 171 for nine when stand-in captain Chaminda Vaas declared the innings and play was called off as a draw.
Rain and a wet pitch had delayed start of play until after lunch on the second day.
Sri Lanka, still reeling from their 6-1 one-day series drubbing in India this month, struggled against the Board XI’s double spin attack.
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra, 23, an India prospect, grabbed four wickets for 64 runs and off break bowler Kulamani Parida returned three for 77.
Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara top-scored with 43, including five fours and a six, before he was caught top-edging a sweep against Mishra.
Earlier, Board XI batsmen Sridharan Sriram (61) and skipper Venugopal Rao (46) added 97 runs for the third wicket after resuming on their overnight score of 217-2.
Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan were rested for the game.
The first match of the three-Test series starts in Chennai on Friday.
Scoreboard
INDIAN BOARD PRESIDENT’S XI (1st Innings, overnight 217-2):
A.R. Uthappa b Bandara 76
S. Dhawan c Bandara b Weerakoon 65
S. Sriram b Fernando 61
Y. Venugopal Rao b Bandara 46
N.K. Patel not out 16
P.A. Patel not out 22
EXTRAS (B-13, LB-1, NB-17) 31
TOTAL (for four wkts decl, 75 overs) 317
FALL OF WKTS: 1-133, 2-178, 3-275, 4-277.
DID NOT BAT: S.T. Binny, K.S. Parida, A. Mishra, R.R. Bose, Gagandeep Singh.