The Sri Lanka U19s just could not keep up with the dominant India U19s in their World Cup Semi-final held in the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur earlier today.
Sri Lanka looked set to spring an upset on India but let the game get away from them, ultimately losing by 97 runs. India will now face either hosts Bangladesh or West Indies in the finals on Sunday.
Photo Album – Sri Lanka U19 vs India U19 – Semi Finals
After being sent in to bat by Sri Lankan Skipper Charith Asalanka, the Indian openers Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan found the going tough with Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara extracting some movement off the pitch and in the air. Fernando picked up danger man Pant and Kumara, who was brought into the team instead of Charana Nanayakkara, picked up skipper Kishan in the next over, to leave India in a spot of bother at 33 for 2 in 10 overs.
This brought India’s most consistent batter of the tournament, Sarfaraz Khan, to the crease and he along with Anmolpreet Singh, went about resurrecting the Indian innings. The bowling that followed the exciting spell by the two quicks was forgettable to say the least. The pitch did next to nothing to aid the spin bowlers on whom the Lankans were banking as the two batsman gradually increased the rate of scoring. A 96 run partnership in 20 overs between the two put the Indian innings back on track. At the departure of Khan, Washington Sundar walked in and made 43 off 45 deliveries to give India a base to launch from in the last 10 overs.
As India looked for the big shots, wickets fell but cameos from Armaan Jaffer, Mahipal Lomror and Mayank Dagar meant that they made 89 in the last ten; India went on to post 267 in their 50 overs.
Sri Lanka could, however, had to chase a bigger target if not for the efforts of Fernando and Kumara who bowled well at the death and picked up 6 wickets between them. Asalanka persisted with himself in the latter part of the innings and ended up going for 59 off his 8 overs while leggie Wanindu Hasaranga, who was Sri Lanka’s best bowler in the quarter finals, was given just 5 overs today.
If Sri Lanka were to make it to the finals, they would have had to chase down a record total against the Indians, who had never lost defending a total of 250+ in Under 19 World Cups.
The chase started badly, with the Man of the Match from the quarter finals, Avishka Fernando being dismissed in the 1st over. Fernando had just got a boundary off the previous ball when he was struck in front of leg stump by Avesh Khan; replays seemed to show the ball missing leg stump. Kaveen Bandara was dismissed a couple of overs later when a mix up led to an unnecessary run-out. The double blow rocked the Sri Lankan batting. However, with Asalanka at the crease and Sammu Ashan still to come, Sri Lanka still had a slim chance of pulling off the chase.
Kamindu Mendis got a few boundaries away but Asalanka looked uncharacteristically nervous in the middle. When the captain was finally put out of his misery for 6 off 22 deliveries, Sri Lanka were well and truly behind the eight ball at 42/3. Ashan and Mendis put on a 49 run partnership, however, the game kept gradually slipping away with the required rate climbing. Once the partnership was broken, it only seemed like a matter of time before India wrapped things up. Vishad Randika and Damitha Silva both made twenties but by then the game was all but lost. The last three wickets fell at 170 as the Indians continued their red hot form by defeating the Lankans by 97 runs.
It was another dominant performance by India, despite a number of errors on the field; they have looked pretty much unbeatable in the games so far. Sri Lanka on the other hand looked excellent at the beginning of the game, bowling with pace and fire but it was always going to be a tough ask once India posted a target of more than 240.
The Islanders have a chance to secure 3rd place at the tournament when they take on either Bangladesh or West Indies on the 13th of February.
India U19 – 267/9 (50) – Anmolpreet Singh 72, Sarfaraz Khan 59, Asitha Fernando 4/43, Lahiru Kumara 2/50, Thilan Nimesh 2/50
Sri Lanka U19 – 170 All Out (42.4) – Kamindu Mendis 39, Sammu Ashan 38, Vishad Randika 28, Mayank Dagar 3/21
Result – India U19s won by 97 runs
