Galle: Right-arm fast bowler Auqib Nabi took 4 wickets as India A bowled out Sri Lanka A for 330 runs and took a 122-run lead.
Day three started on a high note as Sri Lanka A resumed their first innings from 113/2 through Nuwanidu Fernando and Asheen Bandara in reply to India A’s 452/6d.
Nuwanidu and Bandara could extend their overnight partnership to 105 for the third wicket as the former fell to Yash Thakur in the 11th over of the final day.
The right-handed batsman top scored for Sri Lanka A with 84 runs off 142 balls with 9 fours.
Bandara was then joined by skipper Sahan Arachike in the middle and the duo put on a 117-run partnership to ensure momentum was maintained in Sri Lanka A’s favor before both were dismissed in quick succession.
Captain Arachike scored 72 runs off 129 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes while Bandara scored 70 runs off 162 balls with 10 fours.
Following their successive dismissals, Sri Lanka A could only add 70 for the remaining five wickets despite notable contributions from Ravindu Fernando and Samika Gunasekara, who scored 22 and 15 respectively.
Among the bowlers for India A, Nabi took 4 wickets for 58 runs in his 19.4 overs, followed by Yash Thakur and Harsh Dubey with 2 wickets each and Anshul Kamboj and Saransh Jain with one each.
Ayush Pandey and Devdut Padikkal both scored unbeaten 20s and India A made a spirited start to the second innings as they scored 122 runs despite the injury and retirement of Sai Sudarsan.
Padgal and Pandey will resume India A’s second innings on the final day of the first unofficial Test as the tour team set Sri Lanka A a tough target.