Sri Lanka U19s failed with the bat as South Africa U19s won the first Youth ODI in the Gamini Dissanayake Challenge series by 16 runs on Saturday at the P. Sara Oval grounds.
After bowling out their opponents for just 185, Sri Lanka U19s faltered in their chase as right-arm leg-spinner Mitchell Van Buuren created havoc in the hosts’ reply taking 4 for 38 from his 10 overs.
Earlier after winning the toss, the South Africa U19s openers added 39 for the first wicket before right-arm seamer Thilan Prasan drew first blood in the 8th over removing Jesse Christensen for 18.
A solid 52-run stand for the 2nd wicket between Ricardo Vasconcelos and Raynard Van Tonder who scored 33 and 37 respectively set the foundation for the visitors.
The left-arm spinners, Praveen Jayawickrama and Damitha Silva took 4 wickets apiece as Sri Lanka U19s took the last 9 wickets of the junior Proteas’ for just 94 runs in 28.4 overs.
St. Sebastian’s College left-armer, Jayawickrama was the most impressive conceding only 24 runs off his 9.4 overs while Maliyadeva College representative, Silva bowled his full quota of 10 overs and gave away 46 runs.
Vice-captain and the sole off-spinner of the team, Sammu Ashan tightened the screws giving away only 24 runs off his 10-over spell but without any success.
Chasing 186 runs to win, the Sri Lanka U19s opening pair of Vishwa Chathuranga and Pathum Nissanka got the hosts’ off to a decent start by collecting 43 runs in 8 overs before the latter was run-out for 21 due to a brilliant piece of fielding by Jade De Klerk.
After Nissanka’s dismissal, Van Buuren took a cluster of wickets at regular intervals as the home team lost half of their side for just 108 runs. St. Sebastian’s College duo, captain Avishka Fernando and Mishen Silva got good starts of 17 and 15 respectively but failed to convert them into match-winning knocks.
The 6th wicket pairing of Ashen Bandara and Vishad Randika somewhat resurrected the chase scoring 22 and 34 respectively but the seamers, skipper Wiaan Mulder and William Senedin nailed the tail rather quickly. Sri Lanka U19s ended their innings on 169 with 41 balls to spare.
The South Africans lead the 3 match series, 1-0. The second game will be played on 11th July at NCC grounds.
South Africa U19s – 185 all out in 49.3 overs: Raynard Van Tonder 37, Ricardo Vasconcelos 33, Mitchell Van Buuren 29, Eathan Bosch 23, Praveen Jayawickrama 4/24, Damitha Silva 4/46.
Sri Lanka U19s – 169 all out in 43.1 overs: Vishwa Chathuranga 28, Pathum Nissanka 21, Vishad Randika 34, Ashen Bandara 22, Mitchell Van Buuren 4/38, Wiaan Mulder 2/32, William Senedin 2/22.
