Bowlers do well as Sri Lanka U19 take 2-1 lead  

Yasiru Rodrigo and Matheesha Pathirana kept their cool when they were eight wickets down for 96 runs for Sri Lanka Under 19s to pull off two wickets win over England Under 19s and take a 2-1 lead in the five match Youth ODI series at the SSC ground on Sunday.

After they were bowled out for below par 114 runs, the visitors fought back taking wickets at regular intervals to trouble the hosts. But Anjala Bandara’s knock of 29 runs, his highest score in three outings and crucial contributions by Pawan Pathiraja and Dunith Wellalage helped Sri Lanka Under 19s remain in contention. They were 96 for eight wickets when Rodrigo and Pathirana came together to negotiate England spin well to seal the victory with six overs to spare.

Earlier, Rodrigo also did well in the bowling department taking a wicket each in his first two overs. While skipper Wellalage was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, Treveen Mathew and Raveen de Silva took two wickets each.

Scores:

England U19

114 all out in 34.3 overs (Tom Prest 13, Rehan Ahmed 19, James Coles 16, Alex Horton 18, James Sales 13; Yasiru Rodrigo 2/29, Treveen Mathew 2/10, Dunith Wellalage 3/13, Raveen de Silva 2/18) 

Sri Lanka U19

115 for 8 in 44 overs   (Anjala Bandara 29, Pawan Pathiraja 17, Dunith Wellalage 18, Yasiru Rodrigo 12n.o., Matheesha Pathirana 6n.o.; Rehan Ahmed 2/20, Thomas Asprinwall 2/10)