Johannesburg – Captain Dimuth Karunaratne led Sri Lanka A from the front, to give his side a much better start in the opening day of their second four-day 'Test' match, against South Africa A at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead on Friday.
Faf du Plessis had won the toss for the second match in a row but, unlike the first match in which the home side bowled their visitors out inside 45 overs. This time Sri Lanka batted through to the close, reaching 290/8 in 87.2 overs.
There were solid contributions most of the way down the order although Karunaratne (83 off 148 balls, 11 fours and a six) produced the stand-out performance. He was well supported by Sachithra Serasinghe (53 off 96 balls, four fours).
For the second innings in a row Ryan McLaren (3/32 in 20 overs) was the most successful bowler for South Africa A, while Pumelela Matshikwe and Simon Harmer took two wickets each.
Thami Tsolekile took six catches to take his total for the series to 13.
South Africa A made several changes to give as many squad members as possible some game time with off spinner Harmer and batsman Temba Bavuma making their first appearances at South Africa A level. – Sapa