Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 207 Wed. December 22, 2004  
   
Sports


Low performing HP


The Sri Lanka Cricket Academy transformed their form into the shorter version of the game as well when the visitors recorded a comprehensive four-wicket win against BCB HP (High Performance) Squad in yesterday's limited-overs match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

The Lankan Academy, who opened their Bangladesh tour thrashing the local boys by eight wickets in a four-day match, will play their second and final limited-overs match against the same opponents today at the same venue.

Chasing HP Squad's modest 213, the tourists raced to the target with 22 deliveries to spare after overcoming a brief middle-order collapse.

Amila Sandarwan, who shared 52 runs with fellow opener Ishan Muttaliph (27), smashed 62 off 82 balls but his departure saw the Academy boys struggling at 116-5 by the 31st over.

Having hit eight boundaries, the right-handed opener was trapped leg before by part-time medium-pacer Wasel Uddin whose three-wicket haul gave Al Shahriar's side some hope.

But wicketkeeper Gihan de Silva's quickfire 43 not out during two significant partnerships with Chanaka Wijaysingha (16 off 21 balls) and Damith Indika (37 not out off 32 balls) cantered them home.

Tipped to become Sri Lanka's next Test wicketkeeper, Gihan hit one four and a six in his 49-ball essay. He shared 35 runs with Wijaysingha for the sixth wicket and a further 63 runs for an unbroken seventh wicket with Indika, who clobbered half a dozen boundaries in an entertaining knock.

Earlier, the HP Squad failed to build a challenging total after being put into bat due to lack of a big partnership. Opener Shamsur Rahman scored a sedate 36 off 89 balls while number nine Sakib Al Hassan's combative 27-ball 35 with three fours helped them go past the 200-run mark before being booked in exactly 50 overs.

Left-arm pacer Chanaka Wellegedera was the pick of the Lankan bowlers with 3-21 from ten overs.

Touring coach Jeromy Jay-aratne, happy at the performance of the second batch of the Academy, said after the match that his boys were never threatened by the Bangladesh attack in the two matches.

"I found their bowling pretty ordinary but they have a few good batsmen. Still, they need to brush on their technique," said Jayaratne adding that they did their homework on the players ahead of the tour with information available on different websites.

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AMILA SANDARWAN ... 62