BOMBAY, India, 23 October 2005 — Sri Lanka suffered a setback ahead of a one-day cricket series in India when they lost a practice match by three wickets here yesterday.
The tourists scored 267-9 off their allotted 50 overs before a Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) President’s team posted 268-7 to win the match with one ball to spare.
Sri Lanka will play seven one-dayers against India, the first starting at Nagpur on Tuesday.
Lower-order batsman Farveez Maharoof top-scored for Sri Lanka with an unbeaten 64 off 44 balls which included four sixes.
Tillakaratne Dilshan (50), Upul Chandana (37), Russel Arnold (35) and Sanath Jayasuriya (34) were the other notable scorers.
Jayasuriya retired with a painful shoulder after hitting seven fours in his 26-ball knock, but should be fit for the first match against India. Sri Lankan manager Mike Tissera said they did not want to take chances after Jayasuriya had felt pain in his right shoulder.
Jayasuriya, the only Sri Lankan to complete 10,000 runs in one-day cricket, dislocated his shoulder while fielding in a home triangular one-day series in August.
He aggravated the injury earlier this week when he collided with a teammate while playing water polo. Vinayak Mane (75), Nishit Shetty (58) and Amol Mazumdar (56) played key roles in the hosts’ victory against the tourists, who rested key bowlers Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas.
England Security Experts Set
to Review Pakistan Venues
In Karachi, two security experts from England will arrive in Pakistan yesterday to review safety arrangements for next month’s Test and one-day series between the countries, a Pakistan Cricket Board official said.
England are due to arrive on Oct. 26 to play three Tests and five One-Day Internationals.
“These experts will visit all the match venues, team hotels and hold meetings with Interior Ministry officials to review arrangements for the tour,” the board official told Reuters.
England are not playing any matches in the North West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan, and have also refused to play a test match in the volatile southern city of Karachi because of security concerns.
The tour is going ahead despite the Oct. 8 earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people in Pakistan’s northern mountains. The earthquake did not cause any damage in the cities where England will play.
