Cricket Tillekaratne to the rescue

Disciplined batting by Sri Lanka's front-line batsmen after a mini-collapse took the hosts to a modest 254 for 5 wickets at the close of the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan in Colombo yesterday. Sri Lanka's new-look opening pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Russell Arnold, making his debut, laid the foundation with a stand of 61. But four wickets soon fell for the addition of only 29 runs. It was then up to the middle- order batsmen Arjuna Ranatunga (49), Hashan Tillekaratne (65 not out) and Romesh Kaluwitharana (48 not out) to push ahead Sri Lanka's quest for a respectable total. Tillekaratne was the most positive, hitting seven fours, while Kaluwitharana also struck an equal number of boundaries in a knock

that was in contrast to his belligerent one-day style.