Pakistan v Sri Lanka - Tour Match

President's XI v Sri Lankans
Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad
3 Day Game
Umpires: Amanullah Khan & Mahboob Shah
Toss: Sri Lankans

President's XI: Aamer Sohail, Rameez Raja, Waqar Hasan, Javed Burki, Ijaz Ahmed, Wasim Raja, +*Rashid Latif, Nasim-ul-Ghani, Mahmood Hussain, Asif Masood, Aaqib Javed.
Sri Lankans: S Wettimuny, RS Mahanama, AP Gurusinha, RL Dias, *A Ranatunga, HP Tillakaratne, +RS Kaluwitharana, DS de Silva, JR Ratnayeke, HDPK Dharmasena, GP Wickramasinghe.

A batsman-friendly pitch at the Niaz Stadium meant that the draw was always going to be the likely result in Hyderabad, and Asanka Gurusinha took full advantage on the first day with a fine century for the tourists. Gurusinha (109) put on 138 for the third wicket with the more circumspect Dias (65) and then, after the Sri Lankans had stumbled from 200-2 to 257-7, Somachandra de Silva and Ravi Ratnayeke revived the innings with an attacking partnership of 78, allowing Ranatunga to declare overnight with the scoreboard reading 354-8.

Coming as it did from the number eight position, de Silva's fluent 75 proved that Sri Lanka's batting certainly has some depth to it, but over the course of the second day the tourists' bowling attack was put to the sword as Rameez Raja and Ijaz Ahmed both powered their way to confident hundreds. The pair piled on 229 runs for the fourth wicket in little over three hours, but once the stand was broken the misery was far from over for the Sri Lankans as Rashid Latif smashed four sixes on his way to a quickfire fifty, and a 105 run partnership with Wasim Raja helped propel the hosts into an 85 run lead before Latif declared on the final morning. Ratnayeke was the only member of the visitors' attack to emerge with any credit, and it was now down to the batsmen to play out time and avoid the possibility of a demoralising defeat ahead of the first Test.

Wettimuny (54) and Mahanama (37) put on a trouble-free 65 for the first wicket, and although wickets fell at regular intervals thereafter, a shoddy display in the field from the Pakistanis ensured that the tourists were able to keep the scoreboard ticking over, and the game petered out into its inevitable conclusion over the course of the remainder of the day. Sri Lanka will head into the opening Test with a reasonably confident batting unit in situ, but on the evidence of the last three days, coupled with their showing in their one previous Test against England, one wonders how their bowlers will manage to take twenty wickets in a Test, and for that reason Pakistan must remain strong favourites as the series begins in earnest.

1st & 2nd innings scorecards
(click to enlarge)

Scores
Sri Lankans 1st Inns 354-8 dec. (Gurusinha 109, de Silva 75, Dias 65)
President's XI 1st Inns 439-8 dec. (Rameez Raja 149, Ijaz Ahmed 110, Rashid Latif 73; Ratnayeke 4-90)
Sri Lankans 2nd Inns 235-8 (Wettimuny 54)

MATCH DRAWN