Aussies go Down Under
Chris DHAMBARAGE
Sri Lanka produced a ruthless performance to demolish former two time
champions Australia by five wickets in their International Cricket
Council (ICC) under 19 World Cup group C fixture worked off at the
Penang Sports Club grounds in Malaysia yesterday.
After restricting the opposition to a modest 172 runs Sri Lanka came
out with their best batting display to reach their target with 12 overs
to spare.
They also went on to top their group with a maximum of six points
from their three outings and Australia finished second with four points.
Dashing opener Dilshan Munaweera returning back to the side after
missing the two previous games made certain that the team got off to a
good start by smashing a run a ball 43 with the aid of eight boundaries.
The right hander got his act together well from the start and took
good use of the power play overs to hit the bowlers over the in field
area. He put on 43 runs for the second wicket with wicket keeper batsman
Dinesh Chandimal from just six overs.
Sri Lanka of course suffered a double blow as the Australians
threatened to make a comeback through their pace spin combination of
James Pattingson and Clive Rose. However skipper Ashan Subasinghe joined
Kusal Janith Perera and the pair steadied the innings with a 76 run
stand for the fourth wicket.
Both departed when they were well set for a half centuries but all
rounders Sachith Pathirana and Roshane Silva added the finishing touches
to their team stay unbeaten in this sixteen nation competition.
Earlier Australia got off to a promising start having elected to bat
first and maintained a healthy run rate during the first ten overs of
the innings.
But the game took a dramatic change with the introduction of the
spinners with Navin Kavikara, Sachith Pathirana and Umesh Karunaratne
forming a superb combination.
In fact Sri Lanka delivered just eleven overs of fast bowling and
thereafter it was all spin as the Australian top order crumbled against
some quality slow bowling.
Left arm spinner Navin Kavikara was certainly the most outstanding
where he conceded just 20 runs for his three wicket haul.
Kavikara not only put the brakes on the scoring rate but also picked
up wickets at regular intervals to keep the pressure on until the end.
Skipper Michael Hill was threatening to take control of the situation
having made another explosive start to his innings stroking five
boundaries and a six.
But with the Lankans opting for an all spin attack the situation
changed and the Australians simply failed to sustain their position
during the latter stages.
AUSTRALIA UNDER 19
P.Hughes c D.Chandimal b U.Karunarathna 24
K.Pascoe c D.Chandimal b T.Perera 08
M.Hill c K.Perera b U.Karunarathna 34
S.Smith st D.Chandimal b N.Kavikara 36
M.Cramner lbw b N.Kavikara 03
J.Faulkner lbw b S.Pathirana 08
D.King not out 28
D.O’Brien st D.Chandimal b N.Kavikara 05
J.Pattinson run out 01
C.Rose run out 04
D.Burns st D.Chandimal b D.Munaweera 03
Extras (Lb:4 Wd:11 Nb:3) 18
TOTAL (all out in 49.3 overs) 172
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-25, 2-71, 3-80, 4-88, 5-104, 6-134,
7-140, 8-143, 9-164
BOWLING: T. Perera 6-0-28-1, D. Fernando 5-0-20-0, L. Thirimanne 1-0-11-0,
U. Karunarathna 7-0-44-2, S. Pathirana 10-1-25-1, N. Kavikara 10-3-20-3,
R. Silva 10-3-19-0, D. Munaweera 0.3-0-1-1.
SRI LANKA UNDER 19
D. Munaweera c J.Pattinson b C.Rose 43
L. Thirimanne b J.Faulkner 04
D. Chandimal b C.Rose 06
K. Perera lbw b D.King 43
A. Subasinghe run out 43
S. Pathirana not out 19
R. Silva not out 08
Extras (B:1 Lb:2 Wd:6) 09
TOTAL (for 5 wickets in 37.3 overs) 175
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-17, 2-60, 3-61, 4-137, 5-156
BOWLING: J. Pattinson 3-1-23-0, J. Faulkner 6-1-33-1, C. Rose 8.3-1-23-2,
S. Smith 7-0-37-0, D. Burns 5-0-20-0, D. King 4-1-17-1, M. Hill 4-0-19-0.
The Group C standings of the Under 19 World Cup
P W L NR PTS
Sri Lanka 3 3 0 0 6
Australia 3 2 1 0 4
Nepal 3 1 2 0 2
Namibia 3 0 3 0 0
Note: Tabulated under played, won, lost, no result and points. |
