BANGALORE (India), Nov 27: Indian Board President’s XI openers Robin Uthappa and Shikhar Dhawan hit fifties against a struggling Sri Lanka on the rain-hit second day of their three-day game on Sunday.

Uthappa hit a breezy 76 and left-hander Dhawan a patient 65 with the young pair adding 133 runs to guide the hosts to 217 for two wickets at stumps.

Vice-captain Chaminda Vaas, leading the side, chose to bowl first on winning the toss after the start of the match was delayed until after lunch due to a damp ground.

The first day’s play was washed out on Saturday. Uthappa, 20, hit nine fours and lofted rookie left-arm spinner Sajeewa Weerakoon for two sixes, facing 96 balls before he was bowled by leg-spinner Malinga Bandara.

Weerakoon then had the 19-year-old Dhawan caught at midwicket by Bandara, ending his almost three-hour stay.

Vaas, the Sri Lankan bowling spearhead, did not take a wicket although he conceded only 22 runs in his 10 overs.

Both captain Marvan Atapattu and champion off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan were rested for Sri Lanka’s only warm-up game before the three-Test series starting in Chennai on Friday.

Scoreboard

INDIAN BOARD PRESIDENT’S XI (1st Innings):

A.R. Uthappa b Bandara 76

S. Dhawan c Bandara b Weerakoon 65

S. Sriram not out 44

Y. Venugopal Rao not out 12

EXTRAS (B-8, LB-1, NB-11) 20

TOTAL (for two wkts, 49 overs) 217

FALL OF WKTS: 1-133, 2-178.

TO BAT: S.T. Binny, N.K. Patel, P.A. Patel, K.S. Parida, A. Mishra, R.R. Bose, Gagandeep Singh.

BOWLING (to-date): Malinga 6-0-37-0 (5nb); Vaas 10-1-22-0 (1nb); Weerakoon 12-2-66-1 (1nb); Fernando 9-1-38-0 (4nb); Bandara 12-1-45-1.

SRI LANKA: D.A. Gunawardene, W.U. Tharanga, K.C. Sangakkara, D.P.M.D. Jayawardene, T.T. Samaraweera, T.M. Dilshan, W.P.U.J.C. Vaas, C.M. Bandara, C.R.D. Fernando, S. Weerakoon, S.L. Malinga.

UMPIRES: T.K. Handu and S.K. Tarapore.—Agencies