Sri Lanka under 19 cricket team led by Charith Asalanka were felicitated by Sri Lanka Cricket today after they returned to the island following a successful one-month tour of England.
Sri Lanka U19s whitewashed England U19s in a three-match youth ODI series after winning the two-match youth Test series, 1-0.
“Words cannot describe the feeling I have for these young cricketers. They have made us proud, they have made their country proud. I’m extremely happy.” Sri Lanka Cricket president Thilanga Sumathipala said during the felicitation ceremony.
The whole touring party were presented with mementos and a handsome cash prize of 1 million Sri Lanka rupees by the Sri Lanka Cricket officials.
Skipper Charith Asalanka who made 224 runs in the two four-day matches and 127 runs in the three youth ODIs spoke exclusively to ThePapare.com, “The pitches were good for batting and after the initial games, our guys acclimatized to the conditions well. This win is not a one person’s work, everyone contributed.”
Opening batsman Avishka Fernando was the stand out player in the one-day games scoring a staggering 285 runs at an impressive average of 95 with two match-winning centuries in the 2nd and 3rd Youth ODIs respectively.
According to reliable sources, the young Sebastianite run-machine has also been added to the Sri Lanka ODI team to face Australia in the upcoming five-match series.
“I had a target of scoring 2 centuries before flying to England. I’m so pleased that I could achieve it.” Fernando shared his views to ThePapare.com.
Fast-bowler Lahiru Kumara who starred in the 2nd youth Test with a match-bag of 11 wickets to steer Sri Lanka to victory expressed his views to ThePapare.com, “The pitches were not that helpful for fast-bowling during the ODI matches but there was a lot of help for the seamers during the Tests. With the weather conditions in England, I was able to bowl long spells of 35 overs and 28 overs in the two Test matches.”
