Australia under 19s registered their first win of the series when they trounced their counterparts Sri Lanka under 19s by a massive 105 runs in the 4th youth ODI played at P. Sara Oval grounds on Friday.
Australian skipper Patrick McKenna won the toss and decided to take the first lease of the fresh wicket at P.Sara Oval grounds. Sri Lanka fielded a team with 6 new players as they opted to rotate the players. The Aussie openers started off positively as they played out the first 10 overs without conceding a wicket to the seamers before off-spinner Kamindu Mendis grabbed the first wicket of Mattew Renshaw for 17.
Liam Banthorpe and wicket-keeper Sam Harper adjusted perfectly as they added 44 runs for the 2nd wicket before the Josephian leg-spinner Aravinda Akurugoda captured his 1st wicket when the Aussie score was on 83. The 3rd wicket pair of Liam Banthorpe and Kyle Scrimgeour played an unique brand of bating as they punished the Lankan bowlers and managed to put on 80 runs before Aravinda Akurugoda took his 2nd scalp for the match.
Banthorpe scored 61 runs in 78 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes while Scrimgeour made a 61-ball 41. Australians went into a spot of bother as they were restricted to 173/6 after being 163/2 at one stage with the leg-spinner claiming 4 crucial wickets.
All-rounders Jonte Pattison and Jhye Richardson got their team to a match-winning total as they scored 63 vital runs in 60 balls for the 7th wicket and finally the visitors ended their innings on 248 all out with only a ball remaining. Apart of Aravinda’s 4-wicket haul, fast-bowlers Chamika Karunarathne and Keshan Wijerathne captured 2 wickets apiece for the hosts.
Chasing 249 runs to seal of the series, the new Lankan opening combination of Kaveen Bandara and Pathum Madusanka got their team off to an aggressive start as they stroked 44 runs for the 1st wicket before left-handed Kaveen was dismissed by Sam Grimwade for 15 runs. In his next over, Grimwade came back to trap one-drop batsman Kamindu Mendis for 5 runs as Lankans started to lose steam in their chase.
The well-set Josephian opener, Pathum Madusanka’s gritty knock of 20 runs came to an end in the 15th over as Sri Lanka lost their 3rd victim when the total was only 53. Sri Lanka suffered a major setback within 4 balls as two of their seasoned campaigners Akeel Inham and the centurion from the previous match, Avishka Fernando returned to the pavilion scoring 11 and 5 respectively as the baby Kangaroos took control of the penultimate game of the youth ODI series.
Grimwade captured his 3rd wicket when he dismissed the Anandian all-rounder Sammu Ashan for 14 as the hosts were restricted to 92/6 in 26.1 overs. The Royal College pair of Chamika Karunarathne and Tiran Dhanapala batted sensibly to resurrect the chase but their 7th wicket stand added only 28 runs as Dhanapala fell to the bowling of slow left-arm bowler Matthew Kuhnemann. Skipper Chamika Karunarathne’s resistant finally ended in the 44th over when he was caught by Jake Winter off Sam Grimwade for 28 as the Lankans were bundled out for 143.
The series stands 2-1 with one match to go which is scheduled to be played at SSC grounds on 4th of October.
Chief Scores:
Australia U19 – 248 all out in 49.5 overs: Liam Banthorpe 61, Jonte Pattison 43, Kyle Scrimegour 41, Aravinda Akurugoda 4/42, Chamika Karunarathne 2/48, Keshan Wijerathne 2/37.
Sri Lanka U19 – 143 all out in 43.3 overs: Chamika Karunarathne 28, Pathum Madusanka 20, Sam Grimwade 5/23, Matthew Kuhnemann 2/23.
