Sri Lanka U19 beats West Indies in tight contest

Sri Lanka’s Under 19 Cricket Team this week beat the West Indies by two wickets in a tight contest at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in the opening game of the under-19 Quadrangular series.

West Indies batted first and was bowled out for 146 in 47.1 overs. The key contributors with the bat for West Indies were Kavem Hodge (50: 86b, 4x4) and Justin Greaves (33: 74b, 2x4). Hodge-Greaves stand for the sixth wicket fetched 79 runs.

For Sri Lanka, Sanitha de Mel (4-14), Gaurav Deva (2-31) and Lahiru Madushanka (2-26) were the key wicket-takers.

In its chase, Sri Lanka lost wickets in a heap and slipped to 71 for eight. It required Madushanka (42 not out: 78b, 2x4, 1x6) and Tharindu Kaushal (30 not out: 81b, 3x4) to take Sri Lanka home.

Madushanka-Kaushal stand was an unbeaten worth 76 runs for the ninth wicket.

For West Indies, Geaves (4-26), Ronsford Beaton (2-39) and Kyle Mayers (2-24) were the key wicket-takers.

In other match, India’s under-19 captain Unmukt Chand (72 not out: 40b, 11x4, 3x6) and Manan Vohra (79 not out: 35b, 15x4, 2x6) shared an unbeaten opening partnership of 167 to lead the hosts to a win over Australia.

Chand and Vohra overhauled the Australia target of 163 all out in just 12 overs to give the home team its first win at the Port Trust Diamond Jubilee Stadium.

Earlier, Australia was bowled out for 163 in 41.1 overs. The only major contributor to the Australia score was wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson (51: 59b, 3x4).

Skipper Cameron Bancroft (26) and William Bosisto (27) provided handy contributions.

For India, left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh (2-26) and off-spinner Baba Aparajith (5-38) were the main wicket-takers.