Jurel ton, Nuwanidu fifty headline rain-hit day

Only 57.4 overs of play were possible on Day 2 of the first unofficial Test between Sri Lanka A and India A on a rainy day in Galle. But captain Dhruv Jurel's unbeaten 141 set up a declaration on 452/6, before India A picked up two wickets as Sri Lanka A finished the day on 113/2.

Resuming on his overnight score of 68, Jurel began with a boundary in the first over of the day. But Shaik Rasheed could only add ten runs to his overnight score of 53 and was bowled by Chamika Gunasekara. Jurel motored along and moved to 97 before rain forced the covers to be brought on 14 overs into the session.

An early Lunch was taken and considerable time was lost before another interruption followed just five overs into the second session. But Jurel swiftly raised his hundred and pushed for quick runs with Harsh Dubey giving him able company. Post the second rain interruption, the duo continued to be positive, taking a liking to Dilum Sudeera in particular as they forged an 86-run stand for the sixth wicket. Gunasekara picked up his third wicket in the innings, dismissing Dubey for 30 before Jurel pulled the shutters down on the innings once India A went past 450 at the stroke of Tea.

Anshul Kamboj provided the early breakthrough, dismissing Niroshan Dickwella for 10, while Auqib Nabi remained tidy from the other end. Nuwanidu Fernando battled it out against the seamers in the company of opener Pawantha Weerasinghe, but the latter was soon castled by Yash Thakur. At 38/2, Nuwanidu was joined by Ashen Bandara, who dug in and played second fiddle with his partner pressing on with the scoring rate.

Sri Lanka A went past fifty in the 13th over before the batters rotated strike well, following which Nuwanidu pocketed boundaries regularly against the spin duo of Saransh Jain and Harsh Dubey. Saransh in particular was expensive, and Nuwanidu raised a half-century to see the hosts through to Stumps without a hiccup. Sri Lanka A are still 339 runs adrift of India A's first innings total, with the stand between Nuwanidu and Bandara currently worth 75.

Brief Scores: India A 452/6 declared (Dhruv Jurel 141*, Sai Sudharsan 132, Shaik Rasheed 63; Chamika Gunasekara 3-84) lead Sri Lanka A 113/2 (Nuwanidu Fernando 65*, Ashen Bandara 18*) by 339 runs.