Gritty Pakistan batting forces draw

Sri Lanka A 417 and 271 for 5 dec (Thirimanne 62, Rupasinghe 59*) drew with Pakistan A 315 and 156 for 6 (Shehzad 59, Ali 45*, Randiv 3-49)
Scorecard

Pakistan A put on a gritty batting performance to deny Sri Lanka A a win in the first unofficial Test in Dambulla. Ahmed Shehzad's 59 and an unbeaten 45 from Azhar Ali shut out the home team.

Set 374 to win after Sri Lanka A declared on 271 for 5, Pakistan were in trouble straightaway when both openers - Khurram Manzoor and Umar Amin - fell without scoring. That brought together Shehzad and Ali, who frustrated Sri Lanka's bowlers with 93 for the third wicket.

Runs came at a crawl, with both batsmen content on playing safe. After Shehzad's dismissal, Ali continued to keep the bowlers at bay till the end and was well supported by Fahad Masood, who took 50 balls for his 7. There was one more blip, with Pakistan reduced to 138 for 6 at one stage, but Sri Lanka ran out of time to bowl out the tourists.

Suraj Randiv capped a successful match as he picked up three wickets in the innings to finish with match figures of 7 for 139.

The second unofficial Test begins in Colombo on Thursday.