Sri Lanka beat Ireland in U19 WC warm-up

Sri Lanka opener Shevon Daniel showed early form with an attacking knock of 75 off 72 balls against Ireland in the ICC U19 World Cup warm-up fixture

ICC: Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates and Scotland all recorded impressive victories as the warm-up matches for the 2022 ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup continued in the West Indies.

In Guyana, Sri Lanka notched a 128-run triumph over Ireland and Scotland were winners by 107 runs over Uganda, while the biggest win of the day came in St Kitts for UAE, as they were 250-run victors over Papua New Guinea.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s scheduled warm-up match against England was postponed due to delays in the Afghanistan squad obtaining the necessary visas to enter the West Indies.

The ICC U19 Men’s CWC starts on 14 January, with all teams now entering the final stages of preparation.

Despite overnight rain in Guyana shortening the match between Sri Lanka and Ireland to 43 overs per side, Shevon Daniel helped lead the Sri Lankans to an impressive 128-run victory.

Ireland won the toss and elected to bowl but opener Daniel attacked from the off as he scored 75 from 72 balls, including eight fours and a six.

Opening partner Chamidu Wickramasinghe being run out for five and No.3 Sakuna Liyanage being trapped LBW by pick of the Irish bowlers Nathan McGuire (2-40) couldn’t slow Daniel, who retired not out with the score at 122 for two.

The middle order picked up the slack from there as Sadisha Rajapaksa (22), Pawan Pathiraja (25) and Ranuda Somarathne (33) all had cameos to push the Sri Lanka total to 233 for seven from 43 overs – with three of the dismissals being run outs.

In response, the Ireland top order failed to build a foundation with Wickramasinghe clean bowling both opener Liam Doherty and captain Tim Tector to end with figures of two for seven from four overs before Wanuja Sahan (3-5) picked up the mantle to cheaply dismiss Philippus le Roux, Scott MacBeth and McGuire.

No.3 Joshua Cox was the lone source of Irish resistance as he resiliently made 44 from 86 balls but with wickets tumbling at the other end, there was little he could do to stop his side being dismissed for 105 from 31.4 overs – Jamie Forbes the last man out when he was bowled by Matheesha Pathirana for a duck.

The 128-run triumph was the perfect tonic for Sri Lanka as they continue preparations for a group that includes Australia, hosts West Indies and Scotland at the upcoming ICC U19 Men’s CWC.

Scores:

Sri Lanka U19s beat Ireland U19s by 128 runs, Providence Stadium, Guyana

Sri Lanka 233-7 (43) (Shevon Daniel 75 retired n.o., Ranuda Somarathne 33; Nathan McGuire 2-40, Daniel Forkin 1-21) Ireland 104 (31.4) (Joshua Cox 45 not out, Scott MacBeth 11; Wanuja Sahan 3-5, Chamidu Wickramasinghe 2-7)

United Arab Emirates U19s beat Papua New Guinea U19s by 250 runs, Conaree Cricket Field, Basseterre, St Kitts

United Arab Emirates 321-5 (50) (Kai Smith 145, Dhruv Parashar 52, Punya Mehra 41; Barnabas Maha 1-33, John Kariko 1-40) Papua New Guinea 71 (28) (Christopher Kilapat 27, Peter Karoho 14; Aayan Khan 3-10, Adihya Shetty 2-10, Nilansh Keswani 2-16)

Scotland U19s beat Uganda U19s by 109 runs, Everest Cricket Club Ground, Georgetown, Guyana

Scotland 219-9 (50) (Charlie Tear 50, Jack Jarvis 33; Edwin Nuwagaba 3-29, Juma Miyaji 2-30) Uganda 112 (31.2) (Cyrus Kakuru 25, Ronald Lutaaya 17; Oliver Davidson 3-14, Jamie Cairns 3-15)