Moratuwa (Sri Lanka) - Derek Crookes set up the afternoon's entertainment as South Africa A enjoyed the sun and indulged themselves in a middle net at de Soysa Stadium yesterday.
Only 24 hours after the fiasco of a waterlogged outfield forced the first day of the second warm up game to be abandoned, Crookes led the tourists to an impressive 327 for seven against the Board Invitation XI at the recently renamed test venue.
And it was a far happier band of tourists in the dressing room at the end of a day's play which saw three half-centuries and some stylish batting from test reject HD Ackerman.
But generally the pitch enabled the batsmen to find some form at last after 11 blank playing days with Crooke scoring a swashbuckling 92 off only 93 balls. And the way he plundered 22 runs off one over from the Sri Lanka test off-spinner Tilan Samaraweera took him to the brink of a debut century.
Although he undid all the hard work with a rare error, the innings was a quality performance. He hammered six sixes and six fours and at one stage seemed to nominate where he was going to hit the off-spinner next. As it was Samaraweera found himself being plastered all around the former Tyronne Fernando Stadium as boundaries flowed from his bowling.
It was Crookes and Herschelle Gibbs who steadied the innings after mini collapse after lunch saw the total tumble from 119 for one to 144 for four as Mark Bruyns, Ackerman, and the skipper Dale Benkenstein lost their wickets to the negative tactics employed by left-arm spinner Dinuk Hettiarachchi.
They added 109 in only 80 minutes during a display of batting which dominated the second session. Both batsmen went for their strokes and found the gap of a number of occasions.
Although Hettiarachchi ended the day's play with five for 78, his general line and length carried him through the blistering assault tactics from Crookes and Gibbs. He did extract some turn when bowling around the wicket and it was his flight which saw Gibbs taking the risk of going down the pitch only to be stumped for a well-controlled 52.
Earlier Mark Bruyns found his touch after initially struggling and picked up 11 fours in his solid performance of 68 before he top-edged an ambitious sweep shot to a ball which held up a fraction.
Bruyns often employed the hook and pull shot with some purpose while Ackerman, after initial difficulty, fond his touch and was looking good for a big score when Hettiarachchi managed to sneak one past him.
Day 3: South Africa 'A' ideal practice session
Moratuwa (Sri Lanka) - Although three batsmen failed to convert their half-centuries into three-figure scores, South Africa A made the most of their match practice opportunities at the De Soysa Stadium yesterday.
With the second unofficial test of the three-match series looming in Kurunegala tomorrow, the coach, Graham Ford, expressed satisfaction with the practice provided over the last two days.
The first day of the three day match against the Board Invitation XI on Tuesday was rained off, turning the second warm-up outing into little more than a large middle net.
Unfortunately Mark Bruyns, Derek Crookes and Martin van Jaarsveld failed to convert their hard work into the sort of worthwhile contributions which would give Sri Lanka A something to think about in Kurunegala.
``I am pleased with the form of the majority of the players, particularly as they have had such a difficult period of preparation for this game,'' Ford said yesterday.
``What was disappointing is that none of the players went on to reach a century,'' he added after the drawn game.
``It is something we need to work on for the rest of the tour and I am positive that the big scores will come.
``We have discussed importance of the batsman carrying on to reach a hundred,'' he confirmed.
Bruyns reached 68 before he became impatient when facing the left-arm spinner Dinuk Hettiarachchi. Crookes was in devastating form with a controlled innings of 92 off only 98 balls, while Van Jaarsveld, who top-scored with 96 off 161 balls in the South Africa A first innings of 471 for eight, declared was yorked when he lost his balance when playing forward to the left-arm spinner.
Van Jaarsveld became the fourth and Nic Pothas the fifth batsman to score half-centuries in the impressive scoreline. Van Jaarsveld batted with the care and patience displayed by Herschelle Gibbs and HD Ackerman on Wednesday.
But just when he seemed to launch his Sri Lanka tour with a coveted three-figure mark he gave it away after 216 minutes. There were 14 fours, a couple of which came close to clearing the boundary, with his innings studded with well-placed cuts and a straight drives.
The eighth-wicket pairing of Van Jaarsveld and Pothas added 169 runs to the total in more than three hours of batting. They rarely looked in trouble as they played a wide range of attacking strokes.
Most of the afternoon revolved around Crookes and Claude Henderson putting in a long spell of bowling, although Henry Williams troubled both Board XI opening batsman and was unlucky not to have trapped Dulip Samaraweera in front.
But as can be expected at this level of competition, umpires who have a problem making up their mind about the fitness of the ground and run outs are unlikely to give lbw decisions either.
Henderson and Crookes bowled a controlled line and picked up two apiece as the Board XI score a laboured to 90 for four wickets.