England win first U-19 Youth ODI by three wickets

A fine half-century from Shevon Daniel (54 off 64 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) and a contribution of 44 off 62 balls (2 fours) from wicket-keeper/batsman Anjala Bandara failed to stop England from beating Sri Lanka by three wickets under the Duckworth/Lewis method in the first Under-19 Youth ODI played at Worcester. In a match reduced to 48 overs, a side Sri Lanka put into bat first scored 248-9. Due to bad weather, England’s target was revised to 172 off 24 overs, and they got there with five balls to spare.

England got off to a good start with an opening stand of 56 off 49 balls between George Thomas (28) and skipper Ben McKinney (31). However, they suffered a wobble in the middle despite a stroke-filled 49 off 37 balls (4 fours, 2 sixes) from wicket-keeper Alex Horton slumping to 139-6 in the 20th over, but Danial Ibrahim with 32 off 21 balls (2 fours, 1 six) got them over the line.

The second U-19 Youth ODI will be played at the same venue tomorrow.  

Scores:

Sri Lanka (U19) 248-9 (48) (Abisheak Liyanaarachchi 33, Shevon Daniel 54, Anjala Bandara 44, Malsha Tharupathi 37, Thomas Aspinwall 2/24, Fateh Singh 3/49, Danial Ibrahim 2/61)

England (U19) 174-7 (23.1) (George Thomas 28, Ben McKinney 31, Alex Horton 49, Danial Ibrahim 32, Raveen de Silva 2/32)