ST GEORGE’S – An aggressive half century from Seekkuge Prasanna upstaged a century by opener Lendl Simmons as West Indies ‘A’ lost the momentum and toppled to a four-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka ‘A’ in their first One-day match at the Grenada National Stadium yesterday.
Prasanna smashed an unbeaten 51 to hasten a run rate that slowed down after a number of wickets fell on the heels of an impressive opening stand.
Prasanna cracked a boundary to bring up his half-century and carried Sri Lanka ‘A’ to 287 for six after West Indies ‘A’ had posted a competitive 282 for nine in 50 overs.
He faced just 17 balls, batted for 25 minutes and hit three fours and five sixes to bring his side firmly back into the game thereby avoiding a chase to the wire.
Dimuth Karunaratne and Niroshan Dockwella gave Sri Lanka ‘A’ a powerful start by putting on 138 for the first wicket before Nikita Miller made the breakthrough shortly after he was brought into the attack.
Miller bowled Dickwella for 61 and trapped Karunaratne for 89 to end with top figures of three for 51.
Earlier, Simmons scored 106 to anchor the Windies ‘A’ innings after Kirk Edwards won the toss.
Simmons and Edwards shared in a second wicket stand of 116 after the home side lost opener Nkrumah Bonner for a duck to the fourth ball of the day.
The Trinidadian batsman hit seven fours and five sixes, faced 112 balls and batted for 167 minutes while Edwards supported with 57 which contained three fours and two sixes.
Simmons also shared in a century stand for the third wicket with Narsingh Deonarine who cracked three fours and hit three sixes in a knock of 60.
The second match takes place tomorrow at the same venue. (CMC)
