IBPXI vs SL, warm-up match, Review: Lankan batsmen gear up for the Test series with a strong show

The two-day warm-up match between Sri Lanka and Indian Board President’s XI was ended in a draw which was dominated by the batsmen. Sanju Samson was the star as he was the only centurion of the match. Bowlers of both the teams struggled to make an impact on a relatively flat deck as batsmen enjoyed their time in the middle. The visitors too put on a strong show with the bat on the first day and gained the much-needed confidence ahead of the Test series.

Sri Lanka, after losing the toss, started aggressively as Dimuth Karunaratne and Sadeera Samarawickrama scored 133 runs in first 23 overs. Both the openers scored half-centuries and the former was retired out after that before his partner fell on an enterprising 74. The other batsmen followed suit and continued their fluent strokeplay as only Lahiru Thirimanne and Dasun Shanaka failed to score. All the other batsmen including the returning Angelo Mathews were comfortable during their stay at the wicket.

Niroshan Dickwella was also impressive for the visitors along with the uncapped Roshen Silva as Sri Lanka managed to pile up 411 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. The bowling attack was toothless and all were expensive. Sandeep Warrier and Akash Bhandari picked two wickets each as Avesh Khan and Jalaj Saxena shared a wicket each.

Samson leads from the front

Sri Lanka came out on the field on Sunday with an aim to have a decent outing for the bowlers. But it seemed that strategy was to keep their bowlers fresh for the first Test which is just 4 days away. But the skipper of the opposition team Sanju Samson played a trailblazing knock and impressed everyone. He was the only one who converted the start as the others fell after going past 30. Samson was the last wicket to fall on the day after scoring 128 as IBP XI posted 287/5 in 75 overs when the teams chose to shake hands.

Sri Lanka, much to everyone’s surprise, used 14 bowlers which meant that only Niroshan Dickwella, the wicket-keeper didn’t roll his arm over. The frontline bowlers bowled only 41 overs out of the 75 overs bowled in the day which also included 5 overs from Mathews who bowls less these days to avoid injuries. The visitors might have tried to keep the bowlers away from sustaining injuries. Most importantly, the batsmen needed to gain the confidence who struggled completely in front of the Indians in August.

Now, it remains to be seen if they can replicate the similar show with the bat when they face World No. 1 Indian side in the first Test at Eden Gardens on November 16.

14 Lankan bowlers tried out their luck in the warm-up game

Brief Scores

Sri Lanka 411/9 dec after 88 overs (S Samarawickrama 74, N Dickwella 73*)

IBP XI 287/5 after 75 overs (S Samson 128, R Prem 39)