Sri Lanka dump favourites Pakistan, meet India in Asia Cup Under-19 final

Sri Lanka celebrate their 22-run win over Pakistan in the Under-19 Asia Cup semi-final at Dubai yesterday

 Sri Lankan batsmen were up against some lethal fast bowling by Pakistan

By Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka pulled off a dramatic 22-run win over tournament favourites Pakistan to enter the final of the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup at the ICC Academy grounds in Dubai yesterday.

In the final tomorrow to be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Sri Lanka will meet India who beat Bangladesh by 103 runs in the second semi-final played at Sharjah yesterday.

In a low scoring game, Sri Lanka batting first were all at sea against the Pakistan fast bowlers who put up a terrific bowling performance to restrict them to 147. But Sri Lanka fought back superbly to defend the small total through their spinners to dismiss Pakistan for 125 runs and win with three balls to spare.

Off-spinner Treveen Mathew (4/14 off 10 overs) and skipper Dunith Wellalage 3/31 with his left-arm spin were the match winners for Sri Lanka as they strangled the Pakistan batting.

Mathew got Sri Lanka off to a flying start by capturing the first three Pakistan wickets to have them 3/10 by the sixth over. Muhammad Shezad (30 off 75 balls) and Ahmed Khan (36 off 74 balls) resisted as the game turned into a nail-biter as Pakistan gradually inched their way to 119/7 in the 48th over and required 29 off the last 16 balls.

Wellalage ended whatever hopes Pakistan had of pulling the match in their favour when he trapped Ahmed Khan LBW and in a matter of another two overs wrapped up the Pakistan batting to earn a morale-boosting win.

Semi-Finals

At Dubai: Sri Lanka U-19 beat Pakistan U-19 by 22 runs

Sri Lanka (U-19) 147 (44.5) (Yasiru Rodrigo 31*, Matheesha Pathirana 31, Zeeshan Zameer 4/32, Ahmed Khan 2/26, Awais Ali 2/27)

Pakistan (U-19) 125 (49.3) (Muhammad Shezad 30, Ahmed Khan 36, Treveen Mathew 4/14, Dunith Wellalage 3/31)

At Sharjah: India U-19 beat Bangladesh U-19 by 103 runs

India (U-19) 243-8 (50) (Shaik Rasheed 90*, Yash Dhull 26, Raj Bawa 23, Vicky Ostwal 28*, Rakibul Hasan 3/41)

Bangladesh (U-19) 140 (38.2) (Mahfijul Islam 26, Ariful Islam 42, Rajvardhan Hangargekar 2/36, Ravi Kumar 2/22, Raj Bawa 2/26, Vicky Ostwal 2/25)