Sri Lanka’s Australian tour was off to a disappointing start on Thursday, with the Chairman’s XI cruising to 1-94 by lunch on the opening day of their tour match at Canberra’s Manuka Oval.
In their first match on Australian soil, Sri Lanka rested star spinner Rangana Herath and top pace bowler Nuwan Kulasekara, who were forced to watch as their teammates struggled against unheralded NSW opener Scott Henry.
Scoring at a fast clip, Henry scored 65 off 90 while hitting two sixes and eight boundaries off the hapless attack.
Dhammika Prasad, unlikely to force his way into Sri Lanka’s team for the first of their three-Test series against Australia in Bellerive starting on Friday week, copped the worst of the punishment from Henry, going for 38 runs from just six overs.
Shaminda Eranga (1-11) claimed the only breakthrough, snaring 20-year-old West Australian Marcus Harris for 20.
Harris was batting confidently before popping a simple catch to TM Dilshan at backward point.
Test hopeful Usman Khawaja, who is captaining the Chairman’s team, made a patient nine off 43 by lunch.
Offspinner Suraj Randiv also failed to impress, finishing the session with 0-15 off three overs.