Sri Lanka U19s came out 2nd in another Indo-SL cricket game which went down to the wire as India U19s qualified for the finals of the Under 19 Asia Cup 2013/14 beating their counterparts Sri Lanka U19s by 3 wickets at Dubai Cricket Academy grounds.
Sri Lanka U19s batting first lost Sadeera Samarawickrama early on before Hashan Dumindu and Kusal Mendis repaired the Sri Lanka innings with a 94 run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Skipper Kusal Mendis fell to the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav who was the most successful Indian bowler taking 3 Lankan wickets with his slow left arm ‘chinaman’ spinners. Hashan Dumindu scored his 2nd half century of the tournament. Sri Lanka were sitting pretty for a reasonable score when they were 163/3 at one stage but India pegged back with wickets at regular intervals to put Sri Lanka U19s to 194/8 with less than 25 balls left. Sri Lanka’s score was pushed to 223/8 in 50 overs by two cameo knocks by Binura Fernando & Anuk Fernando who made 22* and 24* respectively.
India’s chase of 224 were hit a by a blow in disguise when opening batsmen Ankush Bains had to retire in the 1st over of the game but returned in the 34th over to score a well compiled 54 runs to guide the lower middle order and chase down the target after India were kept on tight ropes by the Sri Lankan bowlers as none of the top-order batsmen converted their starts into match winning knocks. India’s bowling hero continued his good game contributing with the bat scoring a match winning 22 runs in 26 balls in the end to take his team over the line. Sri Lanka’s bowling department was less equipped with the injury to Priyamal Perera which left only 5 frontline bowlers to complete the 50 overs. India completed their chase in the final over as Sri Lanka U19s fought hard and bravely till the end. Anuk Fernando was the pick of the bowlers for the islanders taking 2 crucial Indian wickets.
India U19s with this win will meet the Unbeaten Pakistan U19s in the Final of the Under 19 Asia Cup 2013/14 on 4th January at Sharjah.
Brief Scores :
Sri Lanka U19 – 223/8 in 50 overs : Hashan Dumindu 60, Kusal Mendis 52, Priyamal Perera 34, Anuk Fernando 24*, Binura Fernando 22*, Kuldeep Yadav 3/49, Sarfaraz Khan 2/28.
India U19 – 224/7 in 49.1 overs : Ankush Bains 54, Ricky Bhui 37, Akhil Herwadkhar 27, Vijay Zol 22, Kuldeep Yadav 22*, Anuk Fernando 2/57.
