25-year-old batter Nuwanidu Fernando struck his first century for Sri Lanka A on Thursday, helping his side take the upper hand against Afghanistan A in a four-day game.
In the one-off unofficial Test between the sides at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Sri Lanka A skipper Pasindu Sooriyabandara chose to bat first.
One-off unofficial Test, Afghanistan A vs Sri Lanka A
vs
- Ball by ball Over
His side finished day one (April 29) at 345-8, after opener Lahiru Udara scored 107, and Sonal Dinusha scored an unbeaten 64. On day two, Dinusha went past the three-figure mark, remaining not out on 104 as Sri Lanka A were bowled out for 406.
In reply, Afghanistan A were skittled for 168 as Isitha Wijesundara took 6-35, including all of the top five batters. Wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai top-scored with 54.
Nuwanidu Fernando scores rapid century for Sri Lanka A
Sri Lanka A chose not to enforce the follow-on. In the second innings, Udara was dismissed for a duck but the other batters piled on the runs. By the end of day two, they were 98-1 – leading by 336 runs with Kamil Mishara and Nuwanidu Fernando at the crease.
Mishara departed for 53 on the morning of day three, but Fernando carried on, getting to a century off 120 balls, before departing three balls later for 102. It was his 13th in first-class cricket, to go with 11 half-centuries.
Who is Nuwanidu Fernando?
This knock was his first three-figure score for Sri Lanka A, in his 11th match for the team. Before this, he averaged 17.05 from 10 matches, with a high score of 86.
Fernando, the younger brother of Sri Lanka international Vishwa, has played for Sri Lanka in white-ball cricket before – five ODIs and one T20I between 2023 and 2024. He scored 50 on ODI debut.
The 25-year-old has been in some up-and-down form of late. In the recently-concluded 50-over tri-series against Afghanistan A and Ireland A, he recorded one fifty and four single-digit scores. In March, he did score 45 & 100* for Kandy against Colombo in the National Super League 4-Day Tournament.
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