GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):

Malinda Warnapura stroked a century and captain Mahela Jayawardene fell just short of another as Sri Lanka's batting warmed up for the first Test against the West Indies, with a solid display against the Guyana Cricket Board President's XI yesterday.

The left-handed Warnapura hit an accomplished 132 while Jayawar-dene fell on 99 as Sri Lanka closed the first day of their three-day warm-up match on 343 for five.

In addition to dropping four catches, the President's XI were handicapped early in the day when the genuinely quick Jamaican teenage pacer Jason Dawes pulled up and was forced to leave the field after bowling 2.1 overs.

Warnapura reached the boundary 14 times and cleared it once in his 184-ball and 242-minute innings and shared in strong partnerships with Michael Vandort (29) and Jayawar-dene. The captain, meanwhile, stroked 12 fours in his knock which came from just 110 balls in 122 minutes, before he was bowled on the brink of three figures.

The home team agreed to allow Sri Lanka to bat first on a flat track and to use all of their 14 players present in this game. Ishara Amarasinghe, the 15th member of the Sri Lanka squad, is expected in Guyana this week. The hosts also used all of their 12 players. The game was not accorded first class status.