The skipper Luc Benkenstein’s brilliant century helped England U19 clinched three-match Youth ODI series against Sri Lanka U19 as they snatched a thrilling win in the series decider played yesterday (3rd July) at County Ground in Hove.
Having won the toss, the hosts skipper Luc Benkenstein opted to bat first and posted 268 runs for 9 wickets on the board. Due to a rain interruption during the innings, the game was reduced to a 45-over contest.
England middle order batters Luc Benkenstein and Charlie Allison stood out with brilliant knocks to guide their side to a solid total. Benkenstein scored 102 runs off 99 balls with 7 fours and 5 sixes while Allison contributed with 87 runs off 85 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes.
- Sri Lanka U19s secure the opening Youth ODI at Chelmsford
- Freddie McCann’s majestic ton guides England to series-leveling win
The off-spinner Vihas Thewmika was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors as he snared 4 wickets for 33 runs. The skipper Dinura Kalupahana also impressed with a 3-wicket haul.
Sri Lanka were set a revised target of 265 in 45 overs as per the DLS calculations. They came very close to the target thanks to well-compiled half-centuries by Gayana Weerasinghe and Mahith Perera but fell short of just 4 runs at the end.
Weerasinghe made 80 runs off 76 balls with 12 fours while Perera hit 53 runs off 54 balls with 3 fours and a six. Freddie McCann and Harry Moore starred with the ball for the hosts picking up 2 wickets each.
Both sides will turn their focus to red-ball cricket now as they are set to meet in the first Youth Test of the two-match series on the 8th July at Wormsley.
Brief Scores
England U19 – 268/9 (45) Luc Benkenstein 102, Charlie Allison 87, Freddie McCann 28, Vihas Thewmika 4/33, Dinura Kalupahana 3/58
Sri Lanka U19 – 260 (44.4) Gayana Weerasinghe 80, Mahith Perera 53, Pulindu Perera 38, Freddie McCann 2/39, Harry Moore 2/42
Result – England U19 won by 4 runs (DLS Method)
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theo Wylie | c Praveen Maneesha b Dinura Kalupahana | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 57.14 |
| Freddie McCann | c & b Vihas Thewmika | 28 | 23 | 6 | 0 | 121.74 |
| Noah Thain | c Pulindu Perera b Vihas Thewmika | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 18.18 |
| Charlie Allison | b Vihas Thewmika | 87 | 85 | 8 | 2 | 102.35 |
| Luc Benkenstein | c Hiran Jayasundara b Dinura Kalupahana | 102 | 99 | 7 | 5 | 103.03 |
| Rocky Flintoff | c Mahith Perera b Hivin Kenula | 14 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 73.68 |
| Dominic Kelly | c & b Vihas Thewmika | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Thomas Aspinwall | b Dinura Kalupahana | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Harry Moore | c Vihas Thewmika b Praveen Maneesha | 7 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 87.50 |
| Tazeem Chaudry Ali | not out | 13 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 118.18 |
| Alex Horton | not out | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 8 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 2, w 6, pen 0) |
| Total | 268/9 (45 Overs, RR: 5.96) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hivin Kenula | 8 | 0 | 61 | 1 | 7.62 | |
| Dinura Kalupahana | 9 | 0 | 58 | 3 | 6.44 | |
| Vihas Thewmika | 9 | 1 | 33 | 4 | 3.67 | |
| Manuja Chanthuka | 9 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 4.78 | |
| Praveen Maneesha | 6 | 0 | 52 | 1 | 8.67 | |
| Gayana Weerasinghe | 4 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 5.25 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulindu Perera | c Rocky Flintoff b Freddie McCann | 38 | 45 | 4 | 0 | 84.44 |
| Hiran Jayasundara | b Harry Moore | 13 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 52.00 |
| Gayana Weerasinghe | c Luc Benkenstein b Dominic Kelly | 80 | 76 | 12 | 0 | 105.26 |
| Sharujan Shanmuganathan | c Charlie Allison b Alex Green | 8 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Dinura Kalupahana | c Thomas Rew b Noah Thain | 14 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 70.00 |
| Mahith Perera | run out (Freddie McCann) | 53 | 54 | 3 | 1 | 98.15 |
| Dinura Kalupahana | c Thomas Rew b Harry Moore | 19 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 90.48 |
| Praveen Maneesha | run out (Noah Thain) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 133.33 |
| Vihas Thewmika | c Charlie Allison b Freddie McCann | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Hivin Kenula | run out (Thomas Rew) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Manuja Chanthuka | not out | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 20 (b 1 , lb 10 , nb 0, w 9, pen 0) |
| Total | 260/10 (44.4 Overs, RR: 5.82) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Moore | 9 | 0 | 42 | 2 | 4.67 | |
| Dominic Kelly | 7.4 | 0 | 51 | 1 | 6.89 | |
| Alex Green | 7 | 0 | 50 | 1 | 7.14 | |
| Tazeem Chaudry Ali | 8 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 5.12 | |
| Freddie McCann | 9 | 0 | 39 | 2 | 4.33 | |
| Noah Thain | 4 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 6.25 | |
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