KARACHI: Centuries from Kithuruwan Vithanage and the in-form Kusal Perera enabled Sri Lanka ‘A’ to deny Pakistan ‘A’ victory in the final unofficial Test in Dambulla on Saturday, leaving the three-match rubber drawn 0-0.

The hosts, who trailed by 307 runs on the first innings, were in trouble at stumps on Friday when they wobbled to 119-3 at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium.

Starting the fourth and final day needing a further 188 to avoid the possibility of an innings defeat, the Sri Lankans staged a remarkable comeback thanked to the heroics of Vithanage and Perera, who scored 136 and 102 not out, respectively while guiding their side to 411-5 in the second innings.

In the 76 overs of play on Saturday, the home team scored 292 runs, the bulk of them coming through two 10-plus partnerships with Vithanage involved in both.

Vithanage, the Colombo-born let-hander, staked his claims for a recall to the Sri Lankan team for next month’s official Test series against Pakistan with 136 after having made 48 in the first innings here to follow scores of 39 in the Colombo ‘Test’ and 96 in Pallekele.

The 24-year-old’s 218-ball knock included 18 boundaries. He put on 114 for the fourth-wicket with Sri Lanka ‘A’ skipper Ashan Priyanjan, who contributed 54 off 106 balls with the aid of six fours.

After Priyanjan was caught behind by Adnan Akmal off left-arm seamer Mir Hamza, Perera arrived to continue his magnificent form against the tourists. His 102 on Saturday lifted his tally of runs against Fawad Alam’s men to 663 in seven innings with four centuries.

The 24-year-old Kalubowila-born left-hander, a limited-overs specialist with 43 ODI caps and another 18 in Twenty20 Internationals, took his series total to 352 runs at an average of 176 by striking 12 fours and one six during his 120-ball innings. Perera, who top-scored with 90 in the first innings, hit an unbeaten 119 in Colombo and 23 in Pallekele after making 114 not out, 110 and 87 in the preceding one-day series won 2-1 by the home side.

For both Vithanage and Perera, who together added 155 for the fifth wicket, it was their 12th century in first-class cricket. The stand was finally broken when Vithanage caught by Usman Salahuddin to give part-time bowler Umar Amin a rare first-class wicket.

Asela Gunaratne (9) partnered Perera until the time the latter completed his second century of the series.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA ‘A’ (1st Innings) 273 (M.D.K.J. Perera 90, N. Tharaka 76, K.D.K. Vithanage 48; Fawad Alam 4-40, Shehzad Azam Rana 3-54, Tabish Khan 2-65).

PAKISTAN ‘A’ (1st Innings) 580-8 declared (Shan Masood 182, Umar Amin 127, Ali Asad 89, Adnan Akmal 54 not out, Usman Salahuddin 36; P.L.S. Gamage 4-112).

SRI LANKA ‘A’ (2nd innings, overnight 119-3):

M.D.U.S. Jayasundera c Adnan b Shehzad 56
D.M. de Silva lbw b Tabish 37
M.S. Warnapura c Adnan b Shehzad 8
K.D.K. Vithanage c Usman b Umar 136
A.S.A. Priyanjan c Adnan b Mir Hamza 54 M.D.K.J. Perera not out 102 D.A.S. Gunaratne not out 9

EXTRAS (B-3, LB-1, W-4, NB-1) 3

TOTAL (for five wkts, 116 overs) 411

FALL OF WKTS: 1-88, 2-101, 3-112, 4-226, 5-381.

BOWLING: Tabish Khan 20-4-83-1; Zia-ul-Haq 16-2-70-0 (1nb, 4w); Mir Hamza 21-4-67-1; Shehzad Azam Rana 18-3-63-2; Fawad Alam 28-7-92-0; Umar Amin 12-1-26-1; Usman Salahuddin 1-0-6-0.

RESULT: Match drawn.

UMPIRES: I.D. Gunawardene and R.M.P.J. Rambukwella.

MATCH REFEREE: M.A.W.R. Madurusinghe.

FIRST MATCH: Colombo, match drawn.

SECOND MATCH: Pallekele, match drawn.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2015

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