Opener Avishka Gunawardena made a strong claim for a place in the Sri Lankan one-day squad with a sparkling knock of 96 for the Sri Lanka Board President's XI in their limited over cricket encounter against the New Zealand cricket team played at the Welagedera Stadium Kurunegala yesterday.
However the visitors won this warm up match by a convincing margin of 32 runs. The home side were cruising along at one stage with the dashing Avishka Gunawardena leading the way.
The left hander entertained the 15,000 strong crowd with an aggressive knock of 96 and shared a fourth wicket stand of 91 runs with Chandika Hathurusinghe.
Gunawardena reached his fifty in 75 deliveries with the help of six boundaries. He accelerated the scoring rate during the latter stages and eventually was dismissed just four runs short of his century, having hoisted one six and struck seven boundaries while facing 115 deliveries.
Earlier New Zealand batting first after winning the toss hit up 240 in 50 overs with Nathan Astle and Stephen Fleming compiling half centuries. The former collected his runs from 87 balls with the help of four boundaries while the latter struck six boundaries in 60 deliveries and went on to win the man of the match award.