Superlative Sri Lanka under 19s produced a brilliant all-round team effort as they beat the touring Australia under 19s by 23 runs in the 3rd youth ODI which took place at P. Sara Oval grounds on Monday.
After two abandoned matches where the hosts were deprived of a batting chance, Sri Lanka skipper Chamika Karunaratne won the toss and elected to bat first on a batting friendly surface.
Left-handed opening pair of Charith Asalanka and Dineth Thimodya failed to put up an outstanding stand as seamer Jhye Richardson clean bowled the Lankan vice-captain for 10 runs in the 3rd over. Charith’s school mate and one drop batter Kamindu Mendis was then dismissed by Lain Beckett in the very next over as the hosts lost two key wickets within the first four overs.
Peterite Dineth Thimodya was the next batsman to be dismissed as Sam Grimwade got the better of the Lankan opener in his first over for a 19-ball 17 runs and three balls later Grimwade trapped Sahan Arachchige right in front of the stumps as the hosts were stuttering at 40/4.
Sri Lanka found a stable combination through Avishka Fernando and Pasindu Isira as they battled hard to put their team out of danger. 83-run valuable 5th wicket partnership provided some console for the junior Lions before slow left-arm spin of Clint Hinchliffe ended Avishka’s enterprising knock of 40 runs.
Wicket-keeper batsman Pasindu Isira was the sheet anchor for Sri Lanka as his 80-ball knock of 50 was the top score for the Lankans before he too perished to the spin of Hinchliffe as Sri Lanka were 142/6 with the final 100 balls coming up.
Late middle-order batsmen led by their skipper Chamika Karunarathne played few match-winning knocks as Sri Lanka ended their innings on 240 for 9 in their allocated 50 overs. Number 8 batsman Wanindu Hasaranga scored a whirlwind 43 runs off 41 deliveries including 5 fours while Chamika and Damitha Silva chipped in with scores of 23 and 25* respectively. Sam Grimwade was the most impressive bowler taking 3 Lankan wickets.
Chasing 241 runs to win the game and take the lead in the series, Australia under 19s got off to a healthy start as their opening combo provided stability to the run chase with an exciting 63-run stand before left-arm spinner Damitha Silva worked his magic to take the first wicket of the Australian innings as Jake Winter was caught by Karunarathne for 23 runs.
Liam Banthorpe continued his good work stroking runs without much trouble before left-arm chinamen Ravindu Thillakaratne dismissed the right hander for 47 runs. Ravindu gave another major breakthrough for Sri Lanka as he sent back Sam Harper for only 2 runs in the next over swinging the game back to the home side.
Number 3 batsman Clint Hinchliffe and Tom Healy stroked 62 runs between them for the 4th wicket as the visitors found momentum towards the latter part of their innings. Sri Lanka needed an inspiration from somewhere to get back to the game and they found their solace through Damitha Silva who dismissed the in-form Hinchliffe, who was sent back to the pavilion for a well-compiled 64 runs and Damitha struck gold when he trapped the Australian skipper Patrick Mckenna for 1 run in the next over.
Sri Lankans rallied around perfectly in the final overs as the asking-rate was climbing and eventually the visitors fell 23 runs behind when they were bowled out in the 49th over.
Chief Scores:
Sri Lanka U19 – 240/9 in 50 overs: Pasindu Isira 50, Wanindu Hasaranga De Silva 43, Avishka Fernando 41, Sam Grimwade 3/40.
Australia U19 – 217 all out in 48.1 overs: Clint Hinchliffe 64, Liam Banthorpe 47, Tom Healey 41, Damitha Silva 4/36, Chamika Karunarathne 2/49, Ravindu Thilakarathne 2/30.
Sri Lanka under19s lead the series 1-0 with three more matches to play as SLC announced that the second ODI that was washed out completely has been rescheduled on the 4th of October at SSC grounds giving another opportunity for the youngsters.
