OWN CORRESPONDENT, Sri Lanka | Thursday 11.30AM.
THE monsoon-soaked tour by the South African A cricket team to Sri Lanka finally saw its first full day’s play on Wednesday.
After a false start at Kandy a week ago, the sun finally came out at the De Soysa stadium in Moratuwa on Thursday to give the South African some batting practice against a Board Invitation XI.
And it was not just the sun that shone — Derek Crookes cracked out a tidy 92 in 93 balls (6×6, 6×4) with the bat and contributed much to a 109-run partnership with Herschelle Gibbs (52, 91b, 11×4) for the fifth wicket.
After a good start the tourists were 119/1 at lunch, before slipping to 144/4 when Crookes joined Gibbs. By tea the South Africans were on 202/5. By the close of play, SA had racked up 327/7
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