158/3 (28.0)
CR : 5.64
368/9 (50.0)
CR : 7.36
Sri Lanka A won by 44 runs (DLS METHOD) 🏆
Player of the Match
L Croospulle
103(76)
4:23 PM IST, local time: Bad light stops play.
Muhammad Abbas and Curtis Heaphy are reluctant to walk off. They present their case in front of the umpires, but their argument falls on deaf ears. Play has been suspended. Remember, there are floodlight towers at this ground. However, since the playing conditions do not permit their usage, they have not been turned on. The grounds-crew is now bringing in the tarpaulin sheets to cover the pitch. It is NOT raining as of now.
Muhammad Abbas and Curtis Heaphy are reluctant to walk off. They present their case in front of the umpires, but their argument falls on deaf ears. Play has been suspended. Remember, there are floodlight towers at this ground. However, since the playing conditions do not permit their usage, they have not been turned on. The grounds-crew is now bringing in the tarpaulin sheets to cover the pitch. It is NOT raining as of now.
5:03 PM IST, local time: The pitch and the square are firmly under covers. Some tyres have been placed on the tarpaulin sheets to prevent the wind from blowing them away. To the naked eye, the light has not improved much. The only good news is that it is NOT raining.
The flex board with all the sponsor logos, that is used as a background for the post match presentation, has been brought out on the sidelines. Make what you want to make of it.
The flex board with all the sponsor logos, that is used as a background for the post match presentation, has been brought out on the sidelines. Make what you want to make of it.
5:25 PM IST, local time: Handshakes all around. Looks like the match has been called off. However, we still do not have the official confirmation yet.
SL-A won by 44 runs (DLS METHOD)
5:28 PM IST, local time: Here comes the official confirmation — Sri Lanka-A win by 44 runs (DLS method) and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 3-match series.
Alas, our desiderium ends in disappointment. Dark clouds were hovering overhead pretty much for the entirety of the afternoon. However, the bitter truth is that the venue did not witness even a drop of rain. The ground is equipped with floodlight towers but they were never turned on as the playing conditions did not allow it.
It is a bizarre situation that reminds us of Nasser Hussain screaming, "There should be a provision for common sense" on commentary during the 2013 Ashes (when the 5th day of the Test was called off due to bad light with England just 21 runs adrift of the target).
Despite a much improved showing with the bat, New Zealand-A, end up on the losing side. They might argue that with wickets in hand, they had a great chance of gunning the target down. However, Sri Lanka-A being far ahead on the DLS par score is a testimony to how good the home team was.
Of course, it was their batting that set it up. Lasith Croospulle set the tone with his aggressive shot making up top. He got the hosts off to a flyer and eventually went on to compile a century. The visitors did pull things back somewhat by dismissing Kamil Mishara, Nuwanidu Fernando and Pavan Rathnayake. However, a steadfast half-century from the skipper steadied the ship in the middle, while Sonal Dinusha's 77-ball-93 provided the finishing touches. Tim Pringle returned the best figures for NZ-A, ending with 3/58 against his name.
A target of 369 was never going to be easy to chase, but the Kiwis decided to fight fire with fire. Tim Robinson's effervescent cameo up top provided them the sprightly start they needed, while Curtis Heaphy's well-compiled half-century kept them in the hunt. Though, some tight bowling from the SL-A spinners made things tough for them. Sonal Dinusha was particularly impressive as he did not concede a single boundary in his 7 overs.
Thus, New Zealand A were well short of the DLS par score when the umpires decided to suspend play.
It is a bizarre situation that reminds us of Nasser Hussain screaming, "There should be a provision for common sense" on commentary during the 2013 Ashes (when the 5th day of the Test was called off due to bad light with England just 21 runs adrift of the target).
Despite a much improved showing with the bat, New Zealand-A, end up on the losing side. They might argue that with wickets in hand, they had a great chance of gunning the target down. However, Sri Lanka-A being far ahead on the DLS par score is a testimony to how good the home team was.
Of course, it was their batting that set it up. Lasith Croospulle set the tone with his aggressive shot making up top. He got the hosts off to a flyer and eventually went on to compile a century. The visitors did pull things back somewhat by dismissing Kamil Mishara, Nuwanidu Fernando and Pavan Rathnayake. However, a steadfast half-century from the skipper steadied the ship in the middle, while Sonal Dinusha's 77-ball-93 provided the finishing touches. Tim Pringle returned the best figures for NZ-A, ending with 3/58 against his name.
A target of 369 was never going to be easy to chase, but the Kiwis decided to fight fire with fire. Tim Robinson's effervescent cameo up top provided them the sprightly start they needed, while Curtis Heaphy's well-compiled half-century kept them in the hunt. Though, some tight bowling from the SL-A spinners made things tough for them. Sonal Dinusha was particularly impressive as he did not concede a single boundary in his 7 overs.
Thus, New Zealand A were well short of the DLS par score when the umpires decided to suspend play.
Player of the Match: Lasith Croospulle
Lasith Croospulle (POTM): "I just wanted to get a good start and dominate the bowlers in the powerplay, and I was able to do that. When the captain walked in, we had a chat about batting for another 10–15 overs, and that was the plan."
Mitchell Hay (New Zealand A Captain): "[What went wrong?] Yeah, I think Sri Lanka got off to a strong start in the powerplay, which made things difficult for us. But we did well to pull them back to the total they eventually reached. And yes, it’s unfortunate that the game had to be called off due to bad light.
[Positives?] Yeah, there are a lot of positives to take, but also plenty of areas we can work on heading into the third game. Hard luck today, and good luck for the final game."
[Positives?] Yeah, there are a lot of positives to take, but also plenty of areas we can work on heading into the third game. Hard luck today, and good luck for the final game."
Sahan Arachchige (Sri Lanka A captain): " (Thoughts on the team's performance?) We had a good start with Croospulle. We had a good score on the board, when I came into bat. I had to just rotate the strike. Croos was good and Sonal finished off well.
(Thoughts on his own performance) I just played my normal game — rotated the strike and found the odd boundary."
(Thoughts on his own performance) I just played my normal game — rotated the strike and found the odd boundary."
A dominant display with the bat and some tight bowling from the spinners helped Sri Lanka-A notch up an emphatic victory. As much as New Zealand-A will like to blame the bad light and no provision for the use of floodlights in the playing conditions, the truth is that they were behind the 8-ball for the large part of the game.
They will have a chance of bouncing back in the final match of the limited overs series, which will be played on Saturday, April 11. Our coverage for that game will begin at 9 AM IST, local time. Do join us then.
For now, this is the quartet of Darpan Tikiya, Deepak Prakash, Dev Rajawat and Ashok Dayma signing off. Keep following Crickxo for more cricketing action from around the world. Sayonara!
They will have a chance of bouncing back in the final match of the limited overs series, which will be played on Saturday, April 11. Our coverage for that game will begin at 9 AM IST, local time. Do join us then.
For now, this is the quartet of Darpan Tikiya, Deepak Prakash, Dev Rajawat and Ashok Dayma signing off. Keep following Crickxo for more cricketing action from around the world. Sayonara!