Preview: Looking to climb a mountain against a virtually unbeatable India at home, Sri Lanka batsmen were seen negotiating spin and trying a lot of paddle-sweep shots during their long practice session ahead of the two-day warm-up game against Board President's XI starting on Saturday.
Led by Dinesh Chandimal, the Lankans — coming on the back of a 2-0 Tests whitewash of Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — the tourists toiled hard against local spinners for close to three hours in the morning.
Sri Lanka's Niroshan Dickwella. Reuters
The two-day tour match will take place at the Jadavpur University campus ground.
Chinaman Lakshan Sandakan, who returned career-best figures of 5/132 against India in Pallekele during the first innings of the third Test three months back, bowled a lot of overs at the nets while veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath was restricted to a few overs.
Herath — with 405 Test wickets from 85 matches — is their highest wicket-taker in the side. The 39-year-old was also seen playing the mentor's role and advising the youngsters. Along with Herath, all-rounder Angelo Mathews was part of the Sri Lankan team that toured India in 2009.
Sri Lanka are without the services of promising batsman Kusal Mendis in this series with the selectors wanting to protect him from a further potential loss of form and confidence in India.
Mendis endured a modest Test series against Pakistan, in which his contributions were 10, 18, 1 and 29. Although he made an excellent century against India in August, he had crossed 50 in only two of his last 14 innings.
In his place, Dhananjaya de Silva, who fared well for Sri Lanka A on the West Indies tour with scores of 104, 73 and 64, was also seen sweating it out at the nets.
It is also a comeback for Mathews who could not play against Pakistan due to injury. Mathews also spent a lot of time at the nets.
After practice, the Lankans chose not to speak to the waiting media on the eve of their warm-up tie.
Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson will lead a third-string Board President's XI on Saturday against the Lankans. Samson on Friday made it clear that it would not be a "practice game" for them. Rather they would like to cash in on the opportunity of playing a top quality Test side.
Due to the ongoing Ranji Trophy, the Board has opted for an outfit primarily comprising players from Hyderabad, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab who are not featuring in the ongoing fifth round of the domestic meet.
With inputs from IANS
HIGHLIGHTS
After crossing the 400-run mark, visitors have decided to declare their innings at 411 for 6. Dickwella ends up not-out on 73, with Roshen Silva scoring 36 runs in his company.
After 80 overs, Sri Lanka, 379/6 (Niroshan Dickwella 55, Roshen Silva 22)
The visitors lose their sixth wicket as veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath is trapped leg-before off Akash Bhandari's bowling, with keeper-batsman Dickwella deciding to walk out to the crease once again.
After 63 overs, Sri Lanka, 282/3 (Niroshan Dickwella 32, Dilruwan Perera 13 )
Shanaka is out for 2. Jalaj Saxena takes the wicket with Jiwanjot Singh taking the catch. Perera has joined Dickwella with the visitors inching towards the 300-run mark.
After 54 overs, Sri Lanka, 228/2 (Angelo Mathews 45, Niroshan Dickwella 2)
Dinesh Chandimal retires hurt. Dickwella joins Mathews in the middle.
Lahiru Thirimanne perishes for 17, caught by Jiwanjot Singh off the bowling of Akash Bhandari.
After 26 overs, Sri Lanka, 137/1( Lahiru Thirimanne 2, Angelo Mathews 2)
Karunaratne has retired hurt after scoring the fifty. Samarawickrama is out for 74, caught by Tanmay Agarwal, off the bowling of Avesh Khan.
The visitors have made a solid start and are currently at 53 for no loss after 8 overs.
Board President's XI have won the toss and have decided to bowl first.
Here are the playing XI for both the sides.
Board President's XI: Tanmay Agarwal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Jiwanjot Singh, Abhishek Gupta, Rohan Prem, Bavanaka Sandeep, Chama Milind, Jalaj Saxena, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Akash Bhandari
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Niroshan Dickwella(w), Dinesh Chandimal(c), Roshen Silva, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera
So day one of the warm-up game between Board President's XI and Sri Lanka has ended after the visitors decided to declare their innings at 411 for 6. The Islanders would be quite happy with today's display as most of the batsmen got starts, with four of them scoring fifties.
Do join us for the action tomorrow at 9:30 am when Board President XI's batsmen come out to bat in their first innings.
After crossing the 400-run mark, visitors have decided to declare their innings at 411 for 6. Dickwella ends up not-out on 73, with Roshen Silva scoring 36 runs in his company.
After 85 overs, Sri Lanka 398/6 (Niroshan Dickwella 69, Roshen Silva 27)
The last pair at the crease, if the retired batsmen don't plan to come out and bat again. Dickwella has now scored 69 runs off just 52 balls.
After 80 overs, Sri Lanka, 379/6 (Niroshan Dickwella 55, Roshen Silva 22)
The visitors lose their sixth wicket as veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath is trapped leg-before off Akash Bhandari's bowling, with keeper-batsman Dickwella deciding to walk out to the crease once again.
After 76 overs, Sri Lanka, 360/5 ( Roshen Silva 8, Rangana Herath 0)
Sri Lanka lose Perera as he falls to Warrier, caught by Abhishek Gupta after scoring 48.
After 72 overs, Sri Lanka, 348/4 (Dilruwan Perera 43, Roshen Silva 5)
Sri Lanka lose their fourth wicket as Dhananjaya de Silva is dismissed by Warrier for 10 runs. In comes Roshen de Silva as we go into the final couple of hours of play today.
After 63 overs, Sri Lanka, 282/3 (Niroshan Dickwella 32, Dilruwan Perera 13 )
Shanaka is out for 2. Jalaj Saxena takes the wicket with Jiwanjot Singh taking the catch. Perera has joined Dickwella with the visitors inching towards the 300-run mark.
The play has resumed again with Shanaka and Dickwella out for Sri Lanka in the final session of the day.
Angelo Mathews has retired hurt during the break. Dasun Shanaka to join Dickwella at the centre of Kolkata's Eden Gardens.
After 58 overs, Sri Lanka, 254/2 (Angelo Mathews 54, Niroshan Dickwella 19)
The second session of the day is over with Sri Lanka scoring 254 runs at the loss of 2 wickets in 58 overs. Mathews is batting on 54 while Dickwella has scored 19 runs.
After 54 overs, Sri Lanka, 228/2 (Angelo Mathews 45, Niroshan Dickwella 2)
Dinesh Chandimal retires hurt. Dickwella joins Mathews in the middle.
After 49 overs, Sri Lanka, 211/2 (Angelo Mathews 34, Dinesh Chandimal 25)
The duo is now closing in on a fifty-run partnership.
Chandimal and Mathews take visitors' total to 200 in the 43rd over.
After 42 overs, Sri Lanka, 196/2 (Angelo Mathews 28, Dinesh Chandimal 17)
Chandimal and Mathews are rebuilding the innings after the departure of the openers.
After 37 overs, Sri Lanka, 177/2 (Angelo Mathews 19, Dinesh Chandimal 7)
The Sri Lankan captain Chandimal joins former captain Mathews at the centre after Thirimanne's wicket.
Lahiru Thirimanne perishes for 17, caught by Jiwanjot Singh off the bowling of Akash Bhandari.
After 34 overs, Sri Lanka, 163/1( Lahiru Thirimanne 17, Angelo Mathews 13)
Mathews would be looking to start the tour on a positive note with a good score today.
After 32 overs, Sri Lanka, 159/1( Lahiru Thirimanne 17, Angelo Mathews 9)
Thirimanne and Mathews take the visitors past the 150-run mark.
The play has resumed. Lahiru Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews are out to bat after the lunch break.
After 27 overs, Sri Lanka, 138/1( Lahiru Thirimanne 2, Angelo Mathews 3)
The lunch break has been called with the visitors in a strong position after their openers put on a century plus stand.
After 26 overs, Sri Lanka, 137/1( Lahiru Thirimanne 2, Angelo Mathews 2)
Karunaratne has retired hurt after scoring the fifty. Samarawickrama is out for 74, caught by Tanmay Agarwal, off the bowling of Avesh Khan.
After 23 overs, Sri Lanka, 133/0( Dimuth Karunaratne 50, Sadeera Samarawickrama 74)
The openers continue their free-flowing scoring and are now taking the score close to 150.
After 16 overs, Sri Lanka, 93/0 (Sadeera Samarawickrama 59, Dimuth Karunaratne 34)
Board President's XI are still searching for their first wicket as Samarawickrama scores a fifty.
The visitors have made a solid start and are currently at 53 for no loss after 8 overs.
Board President's XI have won the toss and have decided to bowl first.
Here are the playing XI for both the sides.
Board President's XI: Tanmay Agarwal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Jiwanjot Singh, Abhishek Gupta, Rohan Prem, Bavanaka Sandeep, Chama Milind, Jalaj Saxena, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier, Akash Bhandari
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Niroshan Dickwella(w), Dinesh Chandimal(c), Roshen Silva, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera
Hello and welcome to Firstpost's live blog of the two-day warm-up game between India's Board President's XI and Sri Lanka to be played in Kolkata's Eden Garden from today.
The visitors will be looking to start the series on a positive note after their recent home series loss to India earlier this year.
Meanwhile, their opposition will be led by Kerala's Sanju Samson, whose side will be aiming to pose some tough questions for the Sri Lankans ahead of the series.
Stay tuned for live scores and updates.