The Sri Lanka U19 team lost their third consecutive game in the league phase of the on-going triangular tournament (which also involved the Zimbabwe U19s) to the hosts, South Africa, today(26).
Batting first the Sri Lankans ran into early trouble as they were restricted to 85/5 in the 19th over before Mishen Silva joined no. 3 batsman Krishan Sanjula to put on a face saving 73 run partnership for the 6th wicket.
Sanjula fell for a well-made 81 runs to end the partnership but Silva went on his merry way to end up on an unbeaten 63. He didn’t get much support from the tail end to be left stranded as the visitors were bowled out for 223 in the 48th over.
Ruan de Swardt and Akhona Mnyaka picket up three wickets apiece for the South Africa U19s.
The Proteas cruised along in their run chase led by a composed 87* by Raynard van Tonder while Mitchell van Buuren and Matthew Breetzke made useful 40s.
Hareen Weerasinghe and Manelkar de Silva picked up two wickets each for the Lankans but it was not enough to stop the hosts from reaching their target with 8 balls and five wickets to spare.
The game did not have any effect on the tournament as both these teams had already qualified for the grand final to be played on Saturday (28), but it was another demoralizing loss for the visitors two days away from the final.
Sri Lanka U19 223 (47.5) Krishan Arachchige 81, Mishen Silva 63*, Ruan de Swardt 3/32, Akhona Mnyaka 3/45
South Africa U19 224/5 (48.4) Raynard van Tonder 87*, Mitchell van Buuren 44, Matthew Breetzke 43, Jesse Christensen 22, Hareen Weerasinghe 2/32, Manelker de Silva 2/43
 to the hosts, South Africa, today(26).){kind=link}