Wellalage’s efforts in vain as England Under 19s win

Skipper Dunith Wellalage’s all-round performances were in vain for Sri Lanka Under 19s as the England Under 19s restricted the home team to 217 runs to win the first Youth ODI between the teams at the SSC on Tuesday.

Chasing 243 runs to win, St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota openers Chamindu Wickramasinghe and Anjala Bandara gave the hosts a confident start as they added 51 runs for the first wicket. But Sri Lanka lost five wickets within the phase of ten overs to concede the advantage as England slow bowlers broke the backbone of the hosts’ batting lineup.

Ranuda Somaratne who was making his debut joined Wellalage to repair the damage but their 102 runs stand for the sixth wicket could not pose a serious threat to the visitors’ ambitions as others failed to reach double figures.

Wellalage scored a run a ball 68 which included six fours and the only six of the innings. Somaratne’s 57 came in 73 balls and also included six fours.

While slow bowlers played a crucial role in the tourists’ victory accounting for seven wickets, Wellalage was the most successful spinner for Sri Lanka. He picked up five wickets troubling batsmen at crucial junctures. Treveen Methew, Malsha Tharupathi, Raveen de Silva and Matheesha Pathirana took a wicket each. Trinity College speedster Pathirana had a disappointing outing as he leaked as many as seven extras.

The two teams will meet in the second Youth ODI at the same venue on Friday.

Brief Scores:

England U19s 242 all out in 49.3 overs

(George Thomas 27, Jacob Bethell 23, Tom Prest 22, James Rew 40, William Luxton 44, Rehan Ahmed 23, James Sales 28n.o.; Dunith Wellalage 5/30)

Sri Lanka U19s 217 all out in 47.3 overs

(Chamindu Wickramasinghe 34, Anjala Bandara 20, Ranuda Somaratne 57, Dunith Wellalage 68; Joshua Boyden 3/27, Josh Baker 2/46, Tom Prest 2/36, Rehan Ahmed 2/31)