Home Cricket National Cricket Ranuda Somaratne and his Chelmsford heroics

Ranuda Somaratne and his Chelmsford heroics

Sri Lanka U19 tour of England 2022

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Ranuda Somaratne and his Chelmsford heroics

19-year-old Ranuda Somaratne produced an incredible innings for Sri Lanka U19s, leading them to a remarkable victory against England U19s in the first Youth Test between the sides worked off at Chelmsford.

It was a special knock from the young Somaratne as he managed to pull of a victory for the Lankans when the chips were down. Players are usually judged by how they deal with pressure in the middle, whether they can rise to the challenge or fail to overcome.

Somaratne dealt with the high-pressure moments incredibly well and showed the cricketing world that he is someone special. He held his nerve to play one of the most extraordinary innings witnessed in Youth Test cricket.

Chasing 273 runs in 59 overs in red-ball cricket is no mean task, particularly on the last day of the game. At the beginning of the innings, Sri Lanka’s chances could have been generously described as minimal.

Sri Lanka lost 4 top order wickets for just 48 runs, making the run-chase even more difficult at that stage. Somaratne came in to bat at No. 5, joining Sri Lanka’s most successful batter of the tour so far, Asitha Wanninayake. However, Wanninayake’s stay at the crease was short this time around as he departed after scoring only 22 runs.

Somaratne started his innings slowly and used a defensive approach in the first phase of his knock. He and skipper Raveen de Silva built a decent 50-run partnership for the 5th wicket. Until that point, the Sri Lankan batters did not really look like they were thinking of the target but with the arrival of wicket-keeper batter Lahiru Dawatage, things turned around quickly.

Somaratne and Dawatage’s counter-attack gave the visitors hope as the duo added a vital 89 runs off 80 balls for the 6th wicket. But after the dismissal of Dawatage, who trapped in front for 49 runs, Somaratne was left with just the tail-enders for company. It then could have been a decision between trying to survive or going for the win.

With Sri Lanka needing 86 runs in 17 overs with only 4 wickets in hand, the nerves and pressure were being felt out in the middle. Somaratne knew he had to take the responsibility to carry his team over the line batting.

He continued to show positive intent in his stroke-play without being bothered by what was happening at the other end. No. 8 batter Vinuja Ranpul hung around for 8 overs adding 42 runs to the total with Somaratne and offering serious resistance to the England bowlers.

Though Somaratne kept losing partners at the other end, he continued to dictate terms against the bowlers. With number 9 batter Wanuja Sahan at the other end and 44 runs still needed for victory in just 9 overs, Somaratne changed gears.

The youngster remained calm in the eye of the storm and deservedly got to hit the winning runs in what will be a win long remembered by Sri Lankan fans.

Result


England U19
387/10 (78.3) & 292/10 (75.5)

Sri Lanka U19
407/10 (141.1) & 276/7 (57.1)

Batsmen R B 4s 6s SR
Harry Singh c Lahiru Dewatage b Duvindu Ranatunga 27 46 2 0 58.70
Ben McKinney c Vinuja Ranpul b Dulaj Samuditha 33 34 6 0 97.06
Ross Whitfield c Wanuja Sahan b Vinuja Ranpul 86 106 8 1 81.13
George Bell c Dulaj Samuditha b Vinuja Ranpul 107 96 16 0 111.46
Matthew Hurst c Duvindu Ranatunga b Vinuja Ranpul 8 18 1 0 44.44
Alex Horton c & b Wanuja Sahan 0 5 0 0 0.00
Dominic Kelly st Lahiru Dewatage b Raveen de Silva 14 42 1 0 33.33
George Thomas c Vinuja Ranpul b Dulaj Samuditha 19 24 2 0 79.17
Bertie Foreman not out 58 56 4 2 103.57
Eddie Jack c Lahiru Dewatage b Shevon Daniel 8 23 1 0 34.78
Benjamin Cliff c Pawan Pathiraja b Wanuja Sahan 18 21 3 0 85.71


Extras 9 (b 4 , lb 4 , nb 0, w 1, pen 0)
Total 387/10 (78.3 Overs, RR: 4.93)
Bowling O M R W Econ
Dulaj Samuditha 17 1 105 2 6.18
Vinuja Ranpul 10 0 62 0 6.20
Wanuja Sahan 18.3 5 56 2 3.06
Duvindu Ranatunga 17 1 100 4 5.88
Raveen De Silva 9 1 31 1 3.44
Sadisha Rajapaksa 1 0 6 0 6.00
Shevon Daniel 6 0 19 1 3.17
Batsmen R B 4s 6s SR
Sadisha Rajapaksa c Alex Horton b Benjamin Cliff 11 24 2 0 45.83
Asitha Wanninayake b Thomas Aspinwall 132 315 19 0 41.90
Shevon Daniel lbw b Benjamin Cliff 22 33 3 0 66.67
Pawan Pathiraja lbw b Bertie Foreman 32 95 5 0 33.68
Ranuda Somarathne c Bertie Foreman b Eddie Jack 65 114 6 0 57.02
Raveen de Silva b Eddie Jack 62 135 7 0 45.93
Lahiru Dewatage lbw b Thomas Aspinwall 0 1 0 0 0.00
Vinuja Ranpul c Thomas Aspinwall b Bertie Foreman 42 85 4 2 49.41
Wanuja Sahan b Bertie Foreman 13 29 2 0 44.83
Duvindu Ranatunga lbw b Bertie Foreman 1 13 0 0 7.69
Dulaj Samuditha not out 0 4 0 0 0.00


Extras 27 (b 11 , lb 9 , nb 1, w 6, pen 0)
Total 407/10 (141.1 Overs, RR: 2.88)
Bowling O M R W Econ
Benjamin Cliff 28 5 68 2 2.43
Thomas Aspinwall 31 8 98 2 3.16
Dominic Kelly 23 6 65 0 2.83
Eddie Jack 23 6 62 2 2.70
Bertie Foreman 36.1 11 94 4 2.60
Batsmen R B 4s 6s SR
Harry Singh lbw b Wanuja Sahan 2 8 0 0 25.00
Ben McKinney c Lahiru Dewatage b Wanuja Sahan 56 99 3 0 56.57
Ross Whitfield b Vinuja Ranpul 110 134 12 1 82.09
George Bell c Duvindu Ranatunga b Wanuja Sahan 29 27 3 1 107.41
Matthew Hurst b Duvindu Ranatunga 39 105 0 1 37.14
Alex Horton c Wanuja Sahan b Raveen De Silva 14 18 2 0 77.78
Dominic Kelly b Wanuja Sahan 3 11 0 0 27.27
Thomas Aspinwall c Shevon Daniel b Raveen De Silva 13 22 2 0 59.09
Bertie Foreman c Vinuja Ranpul b Duvindu Ranatunga 12 14 2 0 85.71
Eddie Jack c Vinuja Ranpul b Duvindu Ranatunga 7 16 1 0 43.75
Benjamin Cliff not out 1 1 0 0 100.00


Extras 6 (b 0 , lb 5 , nb 0, w 1, pen 0)
Total 292/10 (75.5 Overs, RR: 3.85)
Bowling O M R W Econ
Dulaj Samuditha 3 0 16 0 5.33
Wanuja Sahan 27 2 89 4 3.30
Sadisha Rajapaksa 6 1 15 0 2.50
Vinuja Ranpul 11 1 45 1 4.09
Duvindu Ranatunga 7.5 0 34 3 4.53
Asitha Wanninayake 4 0 13 0 3.25
Raveen De Silva 16 0 70 2 4.38
Shevon Daniel 1 0 5 0 5.00


Batsmen R B 4s 6s SR
Sadisha Rajapaksa b Thomas Aspinwall 4 9 1 0 44.44
Asitha Wanninayake c Ben McKinney b Dominic Kelly 22 51 3 0 43.14
Shevon Daniel b Thomas Aspinwall 6 13 1 0 46.15
Pawan Pathiraja lbw b Thomas Aspinwall 4 14 0 0 28.57
Ranuda Somarathne not out 120 115 12 1 104.35
Raveen De Silva lbw b Ben McKinney 22 38 3 0 57.89
Lahiru Dewatage lbw b Dominic Kelly 49 49 8 0 100.00
Vinuja Ranpul c Harry Singh b Thomas Aspinwall 18 31 1 0 58.06
Wanuja Sahan not out 23 23 1 0 100.00


Extras 8 (b 0 , lb 6 , nb 0, w 2, pen 0)
Total 276/7 (57.1 Overs, RR: 4.83)
Bowling O M R W Econ
Benjamin Cliff 10.1 0 43 0 4.26
Thomas Aspinwall 16 3 67 4 4.19
Dominic Kelly 11 1 52 2 4.73
Eddie Jack 4 0 13 0 3.25
Bertie Foreman 13 0 74 0 5.69
Ben McKinney 3 0 21 1 7.00