Hashan Dumindu stroked a stunning unbeaten century to help Sri Lanka under 19s register their third successive victory at the ICC under 19 world cup when they crushed United Arab Emirates under 19s by 8 wickets at Sharjah today.
UAE skipper Rohit Singh won the toss and elected to bat first with the intention of putting up a winning total on the board. UAE openers got off to a decent start as they accumulated 51 runs for the first wicket but the strong Sri Lankan bowlers hit back strongly to restrict the hosts to 58/3 in the 17th over. Number 3 batsman Shorye Chopra marshaled the UAE innings with a top score of 69 runs as the middle order batsman Chirag Suri, Shivank Vijayakumar and Moaaz Qazi chipped in with valuable 20’s. UAE under 19s managed to get over the 200 run mark but they were bowled out for 205 before they bat out their 50 overs. Left arm bowlers Binura Fernando and Anuk Fernando and Harsha Rajapakshe continued their impressive work for Sri Lanka under 19s with 2 wickets apiece.
Chasing a modest target of 206, Sri Lanka under 19s lost their star opening batsman Sadeera Samarawickrama in the sixth over when he had only scored 7 runs. Hashan Dumindu and captain Kusal Mendis anchored the run chase as the pair put on a flawless 94 runs for the second wicket before skipper Kusal Mendis was run out for 45 runs when the Sri Lanka total was on 118. Hashan Dumindu was then joined by Hashen Ramanayake, who was drafted into the team in place of Minod Bhanuka. 3rd wicket partnership guided the Sri Lanka team home as Hashan and Hashen had no terrors from the UAE bowlers. Hashan Dumindu scored his first youth ODI century and he remained unblemished on 113. Hashan’s knock consists of 11 boundaries and a single six. Hashen Ramanayake played the supporting role well scoring a patient 34 runs in 59 balls.
Sri Lanka under 19s finished their group stage topping the Group D with three impressive wins.
Sri Lanka under 19s will most probably play Pakistan under 19s in the quarter finals on 22nd Saturday at Sharjah.
Chief Scores :
UAE – 205 all out in 47.5 overs : Shorye Chopra 66, Dan D’Souza 23, Shiv Mehra 22, Chirag Suri 24, Shivank Vijayakumar 24, Moaaz Qazi 20, Anuk Fernando 2/43, Binura Fernando 2/38, Harsha Rajapakshe 2/40.
Sri Lanka – 206/2 in 43.1 overs : Hashan Dumindu 113*, Kusal Mendis 45, Hashen Ramanayake 34*.
