Calcutta: Ahead of the Test series, the Sri Lankan batsmen were hardly tested.

They wouldn't perhaps complain, though. After all, spending quality time in the middle and getting runs behind your back before the series proper would surely pamper confidence.

So, at the end of Day I of the two-day warm-up match against the Board President's XI, the Lankans must be a satisfied lot having amassed 411 for six declared in 88 overs.

The other way of looking at the visitors' day out at the Jadavpur University Salt Lake campus ground is that they had a run rate of 4.67 and four of their batsmen got half-centuries.

On paper, that is just the sort of practice that they would have intended to have.

But then, that is not the whole story.

While the Lankans made merry with the bat, the ones who bowled against them were Sandeep Warrier, Ravi Kiran, Avesh Khan, Jalaj Saxena and Akash Bhandari. Barring Kerala's Saxena, who currently leads the wicket-takers' list in the current edition of the Ranji Trophy, the others are not very prominent names in domestic cricket.

It's obvious that the questions the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would pose to the Lankans during the Test series would be far more difficult than what Saxena & Co. did on Saturday. So, while getting runs is surely a plus point, the Lankans would like to be aware of the reality and would perhaps take their performance in the practice match with a pinch of salt.

Opener Sadeera Samarawickrama was the top scorer for Sri Lanka with a 74-run knock. In fact, the opening partnership proved to be quite fruitful for them as it yielded 134 runs. Dimuth Karunaratne scored 50 before retiring, making the way for the next batsman to come out and bat. That's usually the practice in practice matches.

Former captain Angelo Mathews too had a good day, scoring 54 before retiring.

But the most entertaining innings came from wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella, who remained not out on 73 off just 59 balls. The left-handed batsman showcased a flurry of strokes as he hit 13 boundaries.

Dilruwan Perera (48) and Roshen Silva (36 not out) too were amongst runs.

As far as the Board President's XI team's bowling is considered, Saxena, their best bet, had figures of 22-0-100-1. That kind of sums up how the day went for them. Warrier and Bhandari got two wickets each, but like the others, they too went in excess of four runs per over.

With the batsmen doing their part well, Sunday will tell how the Lankan bowlers fare. The spotlight will be on a 39-year-old. He goes by the name of Rangana Herath and has 405 Test wickets to his name.

SRI LANKA

1st Innings

S. S'krama c Agarwal b Avesh 74

D. K'ratne retired 50

L. T'manne c Jiwanjot b Bhandari 17

A. Mathews retired 54

D. Chandimal retired 29

N. Dickwella not out 73

D. Shanaka c Jiwanjot b Saxena 2

D. Perera c Gupta b Warrier 48

D de Silva c sub b Warrier 10

R. Silva not out 36

R. Herath b Bhandari 3

Extras (b-5, lb-7, nb-1, w-2) 15

Total (6 wickets; 88 overs) 411

Fall of wickets 1/134, 2/168, 3/261, 4/342, 5/355, 6/375

Bowling: Warrier 15-3-60-2, Kiran 12-2-60-0, Avesh 16-0-68-1, Saxena 22-0-100-1, Bhandari 23-1-111-2