Sri Lanka under 19s commenced their preparations for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in a fruitful manner when they defeated New Zealand U19s by 4 wickets in a warm-up fixture played at Savar, Dhaka on Saturday.
The Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka won the toss and elected to field first. The seam bowling pair of Josephian Jehan Daniel and Sebastianite Asitha Fernando ripped through the Kiwis top-order as they were restricted to 23 for 3 in the 7th over.
Skipper Josh Finnie gave some resistance with sensible batting but the junior Blackcaps were 5 down for 66 at the completion of the 18th over. Finnie batted excellently to notch up 54 off 91 with 3 fours and a six but fell to the bowling of Asitha in the 39th over.
The Lankan spinners, Asalanka, Wanindu Hasaranga and Damitha Silva tightened the screws on the New Zealand run-flow during the middle overs while third-seamer Lahiru Samarakoon chipped in taking wickets at regular intervals.
Dale Philips gave the much-needed boost to the Kiwi innings when he ended the innings on a high note by scoring 48 off 57 balls to help his team reach 204 for 8 at the end of 50 overs. All three fast-bowlers grabbed two wickets each for the Lankans.
Chasing 205 runs to win, Sri Lanka U19s lost both opener Kavin Bandara and Avishka Fernando inside the first six overs as they were 25 for 2 but the Richmondite pair of Kamindu Mendis and Charith Asalanka steadied the ship with a 46-run stand for the 3rd wicket. Mendis was unfortunately caught and bowled by Aniket Parikh for 28.
Asalanka was then joined by his deputy, Sammu Ashan but the former was bowled by spinner Rachin Ravindra for a well-made 36-ball 39 with 6 fours and a six. Anandian Sammu batted positively to notch up a brilliant half-century which took Sri Lanka to victory. He was involved in two excellent partnerships of 44 and 38* for the 5th and 7th wicket with Wanindu Hasaranga and Jehan Daniel respectively.
Sammu ended unbeaten on 66 off 69 balls with 11 fours and a six while Jehan Daniel made a quick-fire 14-ball 21 which had 4 fours. Sri Lanka reached the target in the 37th over with 83 balls to spare.
Sri Lanka U19s will play their second warm-up game on Monday (25th) against Nepal U19s at the same venue.
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New Zealand U19 – 204/8 in 50 overs: Josh Finnie 54, Dale Philips 48*, Josh Clarkson 26, Jehan Daniel 2/48, Asitha Fernando 2/39, Lahiru Samarakoon 2/31.
Sri Lanka U19 – 205/6 in 36.1 overs: Kamindu Mendis 28, Charith Asalanka 39, Sammu Ashan 66*, Jehan Daniel 21*, Nathan Smith 2/39, Ben Sears 2/43.
