Sri Lanka U19s played too many aggressive shots as they self-destructed against the Pakistan U19s, in their group B World Cup fixture played at Mirpur on Wednesday, which the latter won by 23 runs.
With this win, Pakistan finished on top of group B and will face the West Indies in Fatullah while Sri Lanka will meet the England U19s in the 3rd quarter-final on the 7th of February at the same venue.
Sri Lanka lost Avishka Fernando early in chase of 213; the Sebastianite right-hander poked at a gentle out-swinger by Hasan Mohsin and fell to a low one-handed catch. Kavin Bandara played a few crisp strokes through the off-side but nicked to the keeper on 14 while trying to guide the ball to third-man.
In-form Charith Asalanka looked good during his brief stay but swept loosely to be caught at short fine-leg for 13 while his deputy, Sammu Ashan failed to keep a short ball down when he pulled it straight to square-leg, leaving the Islanders in a spot of bother at 63 for 4.
One-drop batsman Kamindu Mendis and keeper, Vishad Randika constructed an invaluable 84-run stand to steady the chase. Left-handed Mendis scored 5 fours during his patient knock of 68 but got himself dismissed by attempting to clear the long-on boundary; he only succeeded in lifting it straight into the hands of the fielder.
Wanindu Hasaranga did not make much of an impression as he too perished looking for quick runs rather than building a partnership. Fast-bowler Sameen Gul came back for his second spell and removed the last recognized batsman Randika and all-rounder Jehan Daniel.
Leg-spinner Shadab Khan took the final two wickets in the 47th over as the Sri Lanka U19s slid to 189 all out after being 147 for 4 at one stage.
Earlier in the day, Asalanka won the toss and elected to field on a foggy morning. Asitha Fernando started off bowling with good pace and extracted some seam movement. Fernando dismissed the stand-in Pakistani captain Zeeshan Malik in the 5th over when the latter was hit on the pads right in front of the stumps while trying to flick to the leg-side.
Mohommad Umar and Saif Badar steadily rotated the strike before leg-break bowler Hasaranga broke the 41-run stand when Badar’s inside edge crashed into the stumps. Sri Lanka’s heavy use of spin tightened the screws excellently and the pressure got the better of Umar who jumped out of his crease and attempted a slog off Silva but found himself stumped by Randika.
Avishka Fernando’s excellent piece of fielding from short extra-cover to run-out Umair Masood reduced the Pakistanis to 96 for 4 but Hasan Mohsin and Salman Fayyaz mitigated the Lankan spin challenge by scoring the occasional boundary to chip away with the run-rate.
The dangerous-looking 61-run fifth wicket partnership came to an end in the 41st over, when Fayyaz missed the ball attempting a reverse-sweep, to give Hasaranga his second wicket of the match. Mohsin started off slowly but gradually picked up the pace and scored a brilliant run-a-ball 86 to steer the score to a competitive 212.
Left-arm spinners Thilan and Damitha picked up 2 wickets each but Hasaranga was the most-impressive bowler as he conceded only 30 runs in his 10 overs and claimed 2 scalps.
Pakistan U19 – 212 all out in 48.4 overs: Hasan Mohsin 86, Salman Fayyaz 33, Mohommad Umar 26, Saif Badar 24, Wanindu Hasaranga 2/30, Thilan Nimesh 2/38, Damitha Silva 2/41.
Sri Lanka U19 – 189 all out in 46.4 overs: Kamindu Mendis 68, Vishad Randika 46, Damitha Silva 21*, Hasan Mohsin 2/28, Sameen Gul 2/29, Shadab Khan 2/31, Ahmad Shafiq 2/33.
