The young Lions performed extremely well at the 3 day match played against the England U-17 team which concluded yesterday at the Colombo Colts Cricket club grounds.
It was a beautiful day for cricket with clear blue skies and a peach of a wicket at the Colombo Colts Cricket club. The wicket definitely showed signs of a high scoring game; a batting paradise where the bowlers would have definitely been thinking ‘ 3 hard days of cricket’. The Sri Lankan team consisted of one change; Manelka De Silva a promising fast bowler came in while Thanuka Dabare was side lined for this match.
Winning the toss the Sri Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka was not hesitant to take first lease of this wicket. It wasn’t the start the Sri Lankans would have been hoping for when the first wicket fell for just 6 runs. 06/1
It was a chase after leather from that point for the lads from England as Avishka Fernando and Malinga Amarasiri played some delightful strokes to score runs all around the wicket. The bowlers eventually ran out of options as these two despatched the bowling to all parts of the grounds. Avishka Fernando scored a glorious 134 runs while Malinga Amarasiri made an unbeaten 107. The two youngsters put on a 195 run partnership together which gave the Lankans a really strong platform to push further.
Although 2 wickets fell in rather quick succession things did not look any better for the English there on. Wanindu Hasaranga of Richmond College Galle joined Amarasinghe at the wicket and the chase for leather was on again. Hasaranga made the third century of the Sri Lankan inning staying unbeaten adding 102 runs to his name and his side.
The Englishmen looked tired, naturally, but it was a treat for the Sri Lankan spectators and most importantly for the selectors to watch these young guns step up and bat and show a lot of maturity.
The bowlers couldn’t do much as the Sri Lankan batsmen showed class and good effect in technique. Jared Warner ended as the highest wicket taker with just 2 wickets for 63 runs having to bowl 15 overs where just 5 were maidens. Saqib Mahmood and Ben Green did all they could but ended up with just 1 wicket a piece.
The Sri Lankan inning ended on a massive 456/4 dec in 111 overs on display on the score board.
Sri Lanka 1st Innings – 456/4 dec in 111 overs
The English inning lost its first wicket very soon, on 6 runs. It was eventually a parade of batsmen making their way to the center and heading back to the pavilion as the Sri Lankan bowlers made inroads to the English attack. It was good tight bowling attacking the wickets where the English batsmen were left answerless. Harvey Hussain made a painstaking 35 runs off a whopping 124 balls falling to Thilan Nimesh subsequently. Jared Warner made a mere 11 off 96 balls trying to survive the humiliation but was unsuccessful losing his wicket to Damith Silva.
The bowlers did a tremendous job taking wickets in small intervals consistently. Malinga Amarasinghe one of the centurions in the 1st inning bagged 3 wickets for just 10 runs while the addition to the team Manelka De Silva also bagged 3 wickets for 10 runs. It was a spectacular display of pace bowling by the two seamers, hitting the deck hard and bowling with good rhythm. The left arm leg spinner Damith Silva too joined in the action from where the seamers left off by capturing 2 wickets for 21 runs while Thilan Nimesh and Raveen Sayer took 2 among them.
The English innings lasted just 4 hours and 10 minutes with a total of 79 runs facing 60.2 overs. It looked like a definite innings win for Lankans with the Englishmen trailing behind by 377 runs with a day and a quarter of play left in the game.
England 1st Innings – 79 in 60.2 overs
Put into bat a second time the visitors got off to a disastrous start when they lost their first wicket for 0 runs and eventually both openers were back in the dressing room with the score on 23. It was up to the captain once again to save the side from an innings defeat. Haseeb Hameed scored a careful half century falling for 66 runs which included 8 boundaries. Hameed has continuously scored runs for the side clearly living up to the responsibility as the captain. But it was Mosun Hussain who was the savior for the visitors who cracked an unbeaten ton to save the game. He ended up on 136* with only one chance given when he was on 115 and the total on 251; the keeper Navindu Nirmal missing the ball and subsequently missing the stumping opportunity off captain Charith. Apart from that miscue from the young Hussain it was a brilliant century under immense pressure with the Sri Lankan bowlers doing all they could.
Jared Warner who ended on an unbeaten 31 off 88 balls along with Hussain saw the day through and survived an innings defeat. It was a character-building batting performance by the two batsmen specially Mosun Hussain who really put in the hard yards when things looked grim for the visitors.
Raveen Sayer managed to capture 3 wickets for 66 runs having to bowl 28 overs while, Thilan Nimesh ended with figures of 2 for 70 and Malenka de Silva 1 for 40 runs.
England 2nd Innings – 280/6. 106 overs
It was nice to see the famed Sri Lanka cheerleader “Persy” make an appearance at the match adding his usual banter and jovial cheer, from the boundary line supporting the boys which was no doubt a psychological boost for the youngsters.
‘It’s all a learning curve for us” said the Sri Lankan coach Roger Wijesuriya at the end of the game. This opportunity would definitely go a long way for these young cricketers; the future of our country’s cricket and it is a delight to note the performances being more than satisfactory.
At the end of these three days of exciting cricket, it warms the cockles to know that the future of this cricket loving nation is in good hands.
Chief Scores:
Sri Lanka 1st inning – 456/4 dec. (A.Fernando 134, M.Amarasinghe 107*, W.Hasaranga 102*. J.Warner 2/63, S.Mahmood 1/59, B.Green 1/50)
England 1st Inning – 79 all out. ( Harvey Hussain 35. M.Amarasinghe 3/10, M.De Silva 3/10, D.Silva 2/21)
England 2nd Inning – 280/6 ( M.Hussain 136*, H.Hameed 66, J.Warner 31*. R.Sayer 3/66, T.Nimesh 2/70)
Match Result – Drawn
