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Upon winning the toss in their Group D opener, Ireland captain Harry Tector declared that he wanted his team to post a tall total and put scoreboard pressure on Sri Lanka. They could have done better on both counts. Dhananjaya Lakshan’s unbeaten 101 and captain Kamindu Mendis’s unbeaten 74 ensured the young Lankan lions didn’t stumble in their first 2018 ICC U19 CWC encounter at the Cobham Oval in Whangarei. Their unbroken 157-run stand helped Sri Lanka win by seven wickets in a match that was reduced to a 48-overs a side encounter after rain delayed play by an hour.
Dhananjaya Lakshan celebrates his century - Getty Images
Ireland’s Jamie Grassi had scored a 75 and added 73 for the opening with Mark Donegan (36). It had set them up well for big total, but a middle order slide – with Mendis returning 3 for 35 – meant they were restricted to 207/8 in a match that was reduced to a 48 overs a side after rain delayed play by an hour.
The Ireland bowlers did put Sri Lanka under the pump, and for a while it seemed as though they would go on to contain them. Sri Lanka were reduced to 9/2 within four overs, with Aaron Cawley inducing edges off both Hasitha Boyagoda and Nipun Dhananjaya. Boyagoda was caught behind for nought, while Dhananjaya’s outside edge ended up with Neil Rock at first slip.
Krishan Sanjula joined Lakshan and attempted to stage a recovery, but the runs came at a crawl. They crossed the 50-run mark only in the 12th over, and with every dot ball, the pressure compounded, not helped by constant Ireland chatter. When Max Neville had Sanjula caught behind for a 17, Sri Lanka were staring at defeat at 51-3.
Captains lead by example and lift their followers in times of troubles. That’s exactly what Mendis did. He didn’t let the Ireland bowlers weigh him down. Instead, he attacked as soon as he entered the field. There were boundaries in the two overs immediately after his arrival, and the running between wickets was exceptional. Most mis-fields and overthrows were capitalised on, leading to more fielding lapses.
For an unbeaten 101*, Dhananjaya Lakshan picks up the #SLvIRE Player of the Match award
With his captain scoring freely, the pressure on Lakshan eased as well. The shackles were abandoned, and he played his shots – a lot of his runs came on the leg-side, his expertise with the pull particularly noteworthy. He brought up his half-century, and then accelerated further. It was soon a two-pronged attack, and the Irish shoulders dropped.
Mendis brought up his half-century off just 53 balls, before Lakshan entered the nineties. There was an attack of cramps, but he didn’t let that bother him – the century was brought up off just 116 balls, a knock comprising eight fours and a six. It was Mendis, the game-changer, who fittingly scored the winning runs.
Earlier, the Sri Lankan pacemen Thisaru Rashmika and Nipun Malinga didn’t allow the Ireland batsmen to capitalise on any loose deliveries. For their part, the batsmen steered clear of risks, and concentrated on running between wickets. They were excellent in that regard, so much so that they put the pressure on Sri Lanka despite infrequent boundaries. After four bowlers tried and failed to break the stand, the Sri Lankan captain took matters into his own hands – Mendis cramped Mark Donegan for room and clipped the top of his stumps.
The wicket came at a bad time for Ireland, and they encountered a slide. Morgan Topping managed just a 22-ball 8 before running himself out and was soon joined back in the pavilion by Tector (6), again run out after poor communication. Grassi completed his half-century off 86 balls, but with wickets falling around him, he felt the responsibility to up the ante. His attempt at enterprise ended in his fall though as he slashed Daniel straight to cover.
Sam Murphy and Graham Kennedy then managed to grind 22 for the fifth wicket, before departing in quick succession, and for a while, it seemed Ireland wouldn’t touch 200. However, Joshua Little’s 19-ball 25, which included a mammoth six off Jehan Daniel over long-on, helped boost the total. They could have done with a few more of those.
Player of the Match Dhananjaya Lakshan said: “I am very, very happy that I got a hundred today. It’s my first international 100, and I got a lot of support from the captain (Kamindu Mendis). When he walked in, our first target was to make sure we got close to the opposition total. We set small targets, and we achieved it. Yes, a couple of my partners fell cheaply, but it didn’t put pressure on me. My objective was to get my team to the total, and once the captain came, we knew we had enough quality in the team to do that.”
Sri Lanka captain Kamindu Mendis stated: “When I came to bat, it was 51/3 and we were under pressure. So I just tried to hit and rotate strike with Dhananjaya (Lakshan), do the basic things well and put a partnership up with him. So we could easily get the target. I just spoke to Lakshan and told him to play positively and to rotate the strike, and he did that really well. He supported me well. Their openers batted well and we had to bowl more dot balls. We did that and towards the end of the innings, they couldn’t get more runs on the board. We just tried to pressure them.”
Chief Scores: Sri Lanka U19 208/3 (Lakshan 101*, Mendis 74*) beat Ireland U19 207/8 (Grassi 75; Mendis 3/35) by 7 wickets with 10.3 overs remaining
