Australia captain Michael Clarke geared up for the forthcoming three-Test series against Sri Lanka with an impressive century in a warm-up match, which ended in a draw on Saturday.
Clarke cracked one six and 12 fours in his 104 before retiring as the tourists were bowled out for 393 in their first innings in reply to Sri Lanka Board XI’s 258 on the third and final day of the practice game.
The hosts were 174-2 in their second innings, with opener Lahiru Thirimanne scoring an unbeaten 100 with the help of one six and 12 fours.
Clarke, who was unbeaten on 61 Friday, completed his hundred in the morning session to maintain his impressive form on the tour. He was also named man of the one-day series for scoring 242 runs in five matches. The series, starting in Galle next Wednesday, will be Clarke’s first as Test captain since taking over from Ricky Ponting after the World Cup. The remaining two matches will be played in Pallekele (September 8-12) and Colombo (Sept 16-20).
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Board XI 1st innings 258 (D. Chandimal 59, T. Paranavitana 49, T. Perera 36, L. Thirimanne 32, B. Rajapaksa 21; T. Copeland 5-47, R. Harris 2-39, M. Beer 2-42, N. Lyon 1-71), Australia 1st innings 393 (M. Clarke 104 retd, Usman Khawaja 101 retd, P. Hughes 76, M. Hussey 28, R. Harris 26; D. Perera 3-137, K. Kulasekara 2-62), Sri Lanka Board XI 2nd innings 174-2 (L. Thirimanne 100 not out, A. Mathews 30 not out, T. Samaraweera 24; T. Copeland 1-14, N. Lyon 1-51)
Result: Match drawn
