da poker： Opener Mark Richardson scored 93 as New Zealand batted throughout the finalday of their drawn practice match against Sri Lanka A at Nondescripts CricketGrounds on Tuesday
Wisden CricInfo22-Apr-2003Opener Mark Richardson scored 93 as New Zealand batted throughout the finalday of their drawn practice match against Sri Lanka A at Nondescripts CricketGrounds on Tuesday.The visitors, replying to Sri Lanka A’s 284, struggled against the legspinof Upul Chandana as they were bowled out for 283. The match was thendeclared a draw.Chandana claimed five for 98 from 33 overs, providing a timely reminder tothe Sri Lankan selectors, who will be finalising the Test squad tonight.They had been expected to plump for the young Kaushal Loukuarachchi, who hadimpressed in Sharjah, but Chandana’s fine all-round performance – he alsotop scored in the first innings with a breezy 55 – now provides them with adilemma.Apart from Richardson, who also cracked 106 in the opening warm-up game overthe weekend, none of the Kiwi batsmen scored heavily, although a handful madegood starts.Fellow opener Matt Horne (4) was bowled in the first over of the day byNandika Ranjith, a left-armer, who also claimed bowled Jacob Oram (26),ending a 44 run partnership with Richardson.Stephen Fleming (15), Matthew Sinclair (22) and Richard Jones (1) all failedto make maximum use of their last opportunity to acclimatise to localconditions before the first Test starting Friday.Robbie Hart, the wicket-keeper, did provide some lower-order resistance though, facing 98 deliveries for his unbeaten 34.New Zealand, after four consecutive days of match practice, now have acouple of days to recuperate and fine tune before the opening match of thetwo-Test series.