Twin fifties to Asalanka; first youth Test ends in a draw

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Charitha Asalanka

The first youth test between Sri Lanka U19 and England U19 ended in a draw today at Cambridge.

The Lankans were under the pump at stumps on day 3 but they put up a good performance with the bat to survive on the last day. With 265 runs behind and only 4 wickets in hand, the Sri Lankans had to consolidate. England on the other had the upper but they let it slip in the morning session.

Ashen Bandara perished early on which put pressure on the tail. The visitor’s needed a hero and they found one through Jehan Daniel. Daniel known for his hard hitting showed how dangerous he can be down the order. His knock of 62 had 11 boundaries in it. He together Damitha Silva put up 90 for the 8th wicket. Damitha scored 33 runs which helped Sri Lanka post 335 for their first innings. Amar Virdi was the pick of the bowlers in the first innings. He bagged 5 wickets for just 77 runs.

England skipper enforced the follow on with a 165 run lead. The Lankans needed to pull off a better batting performance than they did in their first innings and they did just that. Pathum Nissanka lost his wicket early on but skipper Charith Asalanka and Dilan Jayalath put on a 108 run stand for the second wicket to save the visiting team from blushes.
Asalanka scored a quick fire 70 while Dilan stayed unbeaten on 77 runs. With the time left there was no way that any team could force a result and so the teams decided to halt play when Sri Lanka were 183 for 3.