Sri Lanka U19 hammers India in the second Youth ODI

After registering a comprehensive victory in the first youth ODI, the young Indian brigade lost to Sri Lanka by 5 wickets in the second ODI. The 5-match series now is on level terms at 1-1 and the stage is set for another exhilarating contest coming up on Sunday. This was Sri Lanka’s first win of the tour after losing the Tests and the first ODI.

Youngster Pawan Shah started off on a positive note, but the opener received no good support from the other end. India lost 2 big wickets in the powerplay and when skipper Aryun Joyal was dismissed, the team was struggling at 48/3 in 13 overs.

Pawan Shah, who was looking well set for a fifty, fell just a run short. Dulshan sent his stumps for a walk in the park, breaking India‘s momentum big time. To sum up the Indian innings in a nutshell, they got some good starts as far as the partnerships are concerned, but no one managed to garner a big score and eventually, they couldn’t register a significant total.

Although wickets kept falling at regular intervals, Ayush Badoni registered a couple of decent partnerships with Ajay Dev Goud and Sameer Chaudhary, which helped India post 195 runs in their first innings.

PWS Dulshan returned with three wickets and gave away just 27 runs. Apart from Shah’s 49 and Badoni’s 36, no other Indian batsman made any considerable contribution.

Captain leads the Islanders from the front

Chasing a moderate total, the Lankan batsmen were in no hurry. Openers Paranavithana and Madushka fell quickly, but skipper Nipun Dananjaya took the onus on himself and helped Sri Lanka walk towards the finish line nonchalantly. Assisting him brilliantly was Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who too registered a brilliant half-century.

Before Sooriyabandara came on to bat, Dananjaya registered a crucial 40-run partnership with Nuwanidu Fernando, which settled the hosts’ nerves and gave them some breathing space. Once he was dismissed, Sooriyabandara and Dananjaya ensured it was oneway traffic till the very end of the game.

When Sri Lanka were just 16 runs short of their target, they lost a couple of wickets in quick succession. Dananjaya ensured that didn’t open any gates of hopes for India to make a comeback and the Lankan captain’s unbeaten 92 helped them win the game by 5 wickets.

Brief Scores

India U19: 193 all out in 47 overs (Pawan Shah 49; PWS Dulshan 3/27, Naveen Nirmal Fernando 2/17)

Sri Lanka U19: 195/5 in 45.4 overs (Nipun Dananjaya 92*, Pasindu Sooriyabandara 52)

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