Jubilant Sri Lanka A players at the Eden on Tuesday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: Riding Malintha Warnapura’s unbeaten 111 and wicketkeeper Kaushal Silva’s gritty 65, Sri Lanka A on Tuesday staged a brilliant fightback to overcome South Zone by three wickets and set up the Duleep Trophy final with North at the Eden.

Mediumpacer Vijaykumar Yomahesh (not Yo Mahesh) — who returned six for 71 on the final day — brought South almost on the brink of victory, sending the islanders tottering at 131 for six at one point in time.

From that platform of uncertainty, Warnapura and Silva fought their hearts out, brought stability to the mayhem and eventually compiled the 137-run partnership, which guaranteed them the ticket to the final.

The Match Referee Sanjay Patil found Sri Lankans guilty of maintaining slow overrate on Day III and fined captain Thilan Samaraweera 40 per cent of his match fees and his team 20 per cent. But the punishments wouldn’t sure hurt them much since they have achieved their goal in more than an emphatic way.

Laxman declared South’s second innings at the overnight score of 333 for four, and set the visitors 273-run target. Michael Vandort and Mahela Udawatte put up 51 runs on the opening stand before doubts crept in their minds.

It started with Pragyan Ojha castling Vandort and then the first-change Yomahesh took the baton and shook up the Sri Lankan top-order with a fine spell of incisive bowling.

The under-19 player dismissed Udawatte and Samaraweera in back-to-back overs and brought his team back into the contest in no time. In the fourth over of his first spell, he accounted for Jehan Mubarak, the ball took a top-edge off the Sri Lankan’s bat and went to Ojha at mid-on.

Warnapura and Chamara Silva (15) initiated a brief rescue act, but Yomahesh was at it again coming to start his second spell. He sent both Chamara Silva and Upul Chandana in the same over as South’s hopes glowed.

But Warnapura and his wicketkeeper had other intentions. With Sreesanth awfully off-colour and Kaushik Reddy found wanting in experience, South failed to cash in on Yomahesh’s astonishing efforts. Sreesanth, in particular, was a big letdown.

He tried to hit the deck too hard, instead of focussing on line and length on the slow Eden track, and so, gave the batsmen time to settle down.