Hiran Jayasundara leads SLCU19 against WI U19

SLC U19 Captain Hiran Jayasundara

West Indies U19 Captain Stephan Pascal

• One-day warm-up game at CCC today

Josephian wicket-keeper batsman Hiran Jayasundara will lead a Sri Lanka Cricket U19 team against the touring West Indies U19 side in a one-day 50-over warm-up game at the CCC grounds today.

The 15-member squad named for the match comprises five of the 20 players picked for the three-match U19 ODI series against West Indies starting on Sunday at Dambulla. The players are the captain Jayasundara, Vishen Halambage, Dinura Abeywickremesinghe, Tharana Wimaladarma and Janith Fernando.

Top-order batter Stephan Pascal will captain West Indies U19 for the white ball matches with Nathan Sealy, the left-handed slow bowling allrounder, to lead the side for the two red ball matches which conclude the tour. The squad includes three players who played in the ICC Men’s U19 World Cup in 2022 which was hosted in the West Indies - fast bowler Isai Thorne, allrounder Nathan Edward and left-handed batter Jordan Johnson.

Robert Haynes, lead selector for the Men’s Under 19s said: “This is an integral part of the preparations for next year’s ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup which will also be played in Sri Lanka. The players will get a first-hand look at the conditions and become acclimatized. We are also very happy that we will have the chance to play two four-day matches. We see the red ball format as very important and vital to the development of our young players. We have not played a Youth Test in a long while and so this is a welcome return to the tour itinerary.”

This is West Indies U19’s only warm-up game before they start a three-match U19 ODI series against Sri Lanka at Dambulla on Sunday. – (ST)

Sri Lanka Cricket U19 Squad

Vishen Halambage, Hiruna Kapurubandara, Vimath Dinsara, Supun Waduge, Hiran Jayasundara (captain), Gayana Weerasinghe, Praveen Manisha, Geethika de Silva, Dinura Abeywickremesinghe, Tharana Wimaladarma, Dinuka Thennakoon, Yuri Koththigoda, Thisara Ekanayake, Janith Fernando, Manula Kularatne.

West Indies U19 Squad

Stephan Pascal (Captain U19), Nathan Sealy (Captain U19 4-day), Jewel Andrew (wk), Mavendra Dindyal, Joshua Dorne, Nathan Edward, Tarrique Edward, Reon Edwards, Deshawn James, Jordan Johnson, Devonie Joseph, Tamarie Redwood, Isai Thorne, Steve Wedderburn, Adrian Weir.