Sri Lanka 363 for 8 after young batters excel on opening day of Colombo warm-up

Sri Lanka finished the opening day of the three-day warm-up match against India in Colombo on Friday at 363 for 8, after young Lankan batters scored freely before Kuldeep Yadav-led spinners produced a late recovery.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill, who did not take the field because Gill suffered an impact injury during a training session, will have questions to address following the first day; off-spinner Saransh Jain (0/54 in 11 overs) will find it difficult to be in contention with Kuldeep (2/76 in 18 overs) and Manav Suthar (1/30 in 11 overs) doing well, while Ravindra Jadeja returned 2/64 in 15 overs but appeared out of sync.

The top order was led by opener Nishan Fernando, who made 66 off 65, and Ravindu Rasantha, who scored 71 off 143; the pair posted a 110-run opening stand before Fernando was run out after a mix-up, and Fernando had recently played Tests on the tour to the West Indies.

Left-hander Sonal Dinusha contributed 52 off 72 and was the only middle-order batter to read Kuldeep from the wrist and hit a straight six; Dinusha added 64 for the seventh wicket with Ramesh Mendis (32 off 49), had recently scored 92 against West Indies in a Test, and used the slog sweep as his 'Go-To' shot during his innings.

Pacer Gurnoor Brar was the only seamer who looked incisive, finishing with 1/49 in 12 overs, while Mohammed Siraj returned 0/44 in 13 and Prasidh Krishna 0/32 in 8; Kuldeep, after an opening spell that went for 29 in five overs, varied his pace and claimed two wickets — Ahan Wickramasinghe caught at short-fine leg off a rising delivery and Anjala Bandara struck on the pads by an arm-ball that skidded — and Suthar, with the best economy, deceived Rasantha in flight and later removed Dinusha with the second new ball.

The surface at Nondescripts Cricket Club was described as mostly benign and offered some purchase for Kuldeep towards the end of the day, and with players returning to red-ball cricket after five weeks the pace attack looked rusty while spinners shared the bulk of the spoils.

The three-day warm-up match does not carry first-class status; under the agreed playing conditions each team will bat 90 overs on days one and two and 45 overs on the final day, with play set to continue under that format.