da doce： Sri Lanka `A’ batted out an anti-climatic final day of the unofficial`Test’ at the NCC grounds in Colombo to secure a draw and set-up aseries decider in the final game in Galle on Monday
23-Jun-2001Sri Lanka `A’ batted out an anti-climatic final day of the unofficial`Test’ at the NCC grounds in Colombo to secure a draw and set-up aseries decider in the final game in Galle on Monday.Pakistan doused hopes of an entertaining finale when they elected tobat on for an hour in the morning. Having added 43 runs they finallydeclared, setting Sri Lanka an unrealistic target of 290 in 72 overs.Having lost Avishka Gunawardene early on, it soon became clear thatSri Lanka had no intention of chasing victory. They grimly occupiedthe crease for 71 overs, scoring at less than two runs per over,whilst the Pakistan captain used ten bowlers in all, including HumayunFarhat, the wicketkeeper.When, to widespread relief, the umpires finally called it a day SriLanka were 129 for three. In their defense, Pakistan were handicappedby a back injury to, Irfan Fazil, their fastest bowler. Nevertheless,their undue conservatism was disappointing and somewhat perplexing”surely their best chance of victory was to encourage the Sri Lankansto chase?”Mudasser Nazar, the Pakistan coach, admitted afterwards that his teamhad missed an opportunity: “I am disappointed; I thought that we couldhave pushed the issue a bit more, but we lost our way after teayesterday when we lost those quick wickets. “Originally we wanted toscore 290-300 and give ourselves a whole day to bowl them out. Maybethe target was a little bit too stiff.””The scoring rate has been very disappointing. I think the players arecautious because they are playing for the `A’ team and that they areso desperate to break into the national team. This can have a negativeimpact on the team, but I am addressing this.”The Sri Lankan coach, Hemantha Devpriya, agreed, adding: “The SriLankan selectors are looking for batsmen who can occupy the crease forlong periods of time and the players themselves are well aware ofthat.” The teams now depart for Galle where they play again in justtwo days time.