Sri Lanka XI Reach 246/4 at Tea in India Warm-Up Match

Sri Lanka XI reached 246/4 in 59.3 overs at tea on the opening day of their three-day warm-up match against India in Colombo, with Gurnoor Brar giving the visitors a timely breakthrough by dismissing Pavan Rathnayake for 39.

Rathnayake was caught by Devdutt Padikkal at deep backward square leg after pulling a Brar bouncer, the wicket arriving at the stroke of the interval. It was India’s fourth wicket of the innings, but Sri Lanka XI remained firmly placed after building substantial partnerships through the day.

The match is an important preparatory fixture for India before the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, which is scheduled to begin at Galle on August 15. Sri Lanka XI won the toss and chose to bat, while KL Rahul led India on day one after Shubman Gill was ruled out of taking the field as a precaution.

The BCCI said Gill sustained an impact injury to his right ring finger during India’s practice on Thursday and that its medical team was monitoring his progress.

Sri Lanka XI build from a 110-run opening stand

Nishan Madushka and Ravindu Rasantha gave Sri Lanka XI a confident beginning after Mohammed Siraj started the innings with the new ball. Madushka opened his account with a cover drive for four, while Rasantha also found early boundaries as the hosts moved to 23 without loss after seven overs.

Rasantha struck the first six of the innings when he pulled Prasidh Krishna over backward square leg, and the openers continued to put together runs. India introduced Ravindra Jadeja after 10 overs, with the spinner conceding only two byes in his first over, but Sri Lanka XI went past 50 without losing a wicket.

Madushka reached his half-century from 52 balls, bringing up the mark with an inside-out six off Jadeja. He finished that over with a four and a single as Sri Lanka XI advanced to 87/0 after 17 overs.

India finally broke the 110-run opening partnership in the 21st over, but it came via a run-out rather than a bowling dismissal. Madushka drove the ball to cover and a mix-up with Rasantha left him stranded. He was run out for 66 from 65 balls, with Manav Suthar and Rahul involved in the dismissal.

Rasantha continued after the loss of his opening partner and reached fifty from 82 balls just before lunch. Sri Lanka XI went into the interval at 138/1 in 30 overs. India had a chance to remove Rasantha earlier when he edged Kuldeep Yadav, but Rahul could not hold the catch.

After lunch, Rasantha and Pasindu Sooriyabandara kept the scoring moving. India missed another opportunity when Devdutt Padikkal was unable to hold a leading edge from Rasantha at silly point. The second-wicket pair added 56 runs as Sri Lanka XI crossed 150.

Jadeja delivered a needed breakthrough when Sooriyabandara misread a short-of-a-length delivery and was bowled for 35 from 63 balls. Manav Suthar then removed Rasantha for 68, with the batter mistiming an attempted shot and being caught at long-off.

Brar strikes before the interval

Ahan Wickramasinghe and Rathnayake carried Sri Lanka XI forward after the third wicket. Rathnayake struck Saransh Jain for a six over long-off and later hit Brar for another maximum over long leg. His innings contained three fours and two sixes before Brar responded with the bouncer that produced the catch to Padikkal.

India’s bowlers will now look to make further inroads after tea, having faced a demanding opening two sessions on a surface that offered limited assistance to the fast bowlers. The warm-up contest remains valuable for India’s preparations, particularly with local conditions and spin expected to be key factors ahead of the Test series.