Wellalage counts on balanced side to do well at Youth World Cup 

by Reemus Fernando    

Sri Lanka Under 19 skipper Dunith Wellalage believes that the success achieved at the Under 19 Asia Cup and two home series and the expertise provided by the coaching staff inclusive of former national captain Mahela Jayawardena will help his team to do well at the ICC Youth World Cup which starts in West Indies on Friday.

“We are the runners up at the Under 19 Asia Cup. We won both the home series against Bangladesh and England. We have prepared well and the team is excited to be in the World Cup,” said Wellalage.

Sri Lanka Under 19s will commence their Youth World Cup campaign with the Group ‘D’ encounter against Scotland on Friday.

“We have a good side and my players are really excited to be in the World Cup. We’re in a good mind-set and this World Cup is a good opportunity for us. In the last few months, we played against Bangladesh and England. We won on both occasions,” he said.

In their first series after the last Youth World Cup Sri Lanka Under 19s beat their Bangladesh counterparts 5-0 and settled for a 3-2 win against England in the next.

Wellalage considers batting to be their strength though the coach Avishka Gunawardena had regarded the bowling department to be their strong point a few days ago. “Our strength is our batting. We have a good batting line-up and a good balanced side,” said Wellalage. He was speaking to media in an ICC arranged zoom meeting on Tuesday.

Responding to a query he said that the presence of former national captain Mahela Jayawardena in the coach staff would further strengthen the team’s chances. “Mahela has helped our team and he has a great knowledge. We can do a great job with him.”

“After the first match we have Australia and West Indies. I think the West Indies and Australia are good sides so I think we can give a good fight against those teams.”

Sri Lanka Under 19s warmed up for the important assignment with a dominant 128-run triumph over Ireland and were scheduled to meet Uganda Under 19s in their final preparation match yesterday.