India A claim early honours against Sri Lanka A

Sai Sudharsan struck an equanimous ton before Dhruv Jurel and Shaik Rasheed’s unbeaten fifties put India A on top on the opening day of the first unofficial Test against Sri Lanka A in Galle. After opting to bat, the visitors went to Stumps on Day 1 at 333/4 in 86 overs.

Sudharsan set the tone with 132 off 175 balls upfront, an innings that included 19 fours. He featured in an 82-run opening partnership with Ayush Pandey before Dilum Sudeera removed the latter. Sudeera then trapped Devdutt Padikkal lbw, delivering back-to-back wickets for the hosts.

Sudharsan added 90 runs for the third wicket with Ruturaj Gaikwad, dominating the partnership by contributing 63 himself. Gaikwad would eventually perish for 22, falling lbw to become Ravindu Fernando’s lone scalp of the day.

Chamika Gunasekara dismissed Sudharsan with the scoreline reading 217 for 4, but that proved to be the ultimate breakthrough Sri Lanka A managed on the day as Jurel and Rasheed added an unbeaten 116 runs for the fifth wicket from 198 deliveries. Jurel was an immovable object at the crease for his 68* off 138 balls while Rasheed was the more fluent of the pair with 53* not out from 92 deliveries.

Brief scores: India A 333/4 in 86 overs (Sai Sudharsan 132, Dhruv Jurel 68*, Shaik Rasheed 53*; Dilum Sudeera 2-98) vs Sri Lanka A.