Gripper batted for over four hours and hit 16 boundaries

Trevor Gripper and Prosper Utseya shared a stand of 193 as Zimbabwe A staved off the possibility of defeat by Sri Lanka in Harare.

The game was ended as a draw after the home side declared their second innings on 306-8, a lead of 139.

Gripper was denied a century when he was out for 97, while Utseya made 89, the highest score of his career.

Zimbabwe have yet to announce their squad for the first Test, which starts on Thursday.

And they may have to name two separate squads if the Zimbabwe Cricket Union are unable to resolve their differences with a group of 15 white players, led by former national team captain Heath Streak.

They agreed to suspend their action pending a hearing of their grievances by an independent arbitrator, but set a Tuesday deadline for the ZCU to put formal plans in place.

If they are not satisfied, they could again make themselves unavailable, forcing Zimbabwe to go into the Test with the second string squad which was whitewashed 5-0 in the one-day series.

Leg-spinner Upul Chandana, meanwhile, pressed his claims for a place in Sri Lanka's Test side by taking 4-80 at the Takashinga Sports Club, giving him seven wickets in the match.

He trapped Utseya lbw with the total on 210, after the youngster had hit three sixes and eight fours, and 13 runs later bowled Gripper.

Wickets fell steadily thereafter despite useful contributions from Mark Vermeulen (26), Sean Ervine (27) and Streak (24 not out).

Ervine and Streak, together with Gripper and Ray Price, were the four 'rebel' players involved in the match.

Zimbabwe A: S Matsikenyeri, TR Gripper, MA Vermeulen, V Sibanda, SM Ervine, E Chigumbura, A Maregwede, HH Streak, RW Price, P Utseya, NB Mahwire.