World Cup title continues to elude as batting fails

ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup

by Reemus Fernando  

Sri Lanka probably had the best lead up to the ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup, a multifaceted coaching staff, a captain who had played Youth International matches since 2018, and a team heavily laden with all-rounders, yet a maiden Under 19 World Cup title continued to elude them as Afghanistan ended Sri Lanka’s unbeaten run in the crucial quarter-final in Antigua on Thursday. One might see the excessive number (four) of run-outs as the main cause for defeat but as it could be seen from the group stage, the team were still in search of a batsman who could bat it through to the end.

A vast majority of Sri Lanka Under 19 bowlers having the ability to bat down the order was giving the team an edge over their counterparts. But was it something that the team could solely rely on? Did not Sri Lanka miss the service of a batsman in the calibre of Pawan Pathiraja?

Pathiraja was the most consistent batsman in the run-up to the ICC World Cup and played the much-needed anchor role when the team were in trouble. He was the key batsman in Sri Lanka’s series victories over both Bangladesh and England Under 19s in the run-up to the World Cup, though he was not at his best at the Under 19 Asia Cup where he had only one half-century.

The team management had been given the best available players after a systematic selection process followed by Sri Lanka Cricket’s selectors. Despite the absence of Schools Cricket during the pandemic period, the selectors had done an admirable job in picking a formidable side. Everything looked hunky-dory until the World Cup commenced as the team had two series victories and the runner up title of the Under 19 Asia Cup against their name.

Sri Lanka Under 19s remained unbeaten during the group stage where there was a shared responsibility in the batting department. There were just three half-centuries of which two were scored in adversity. While skipper Dunith Wellalage scored 52 runs to launch a fightback to beat Australia, Sakuna Liyanage top scored with 85 runs in the opener against Scotland to help the team secure a positive start to the tournament. The only other half-century was by Sadeesha Rajapaksa who scored 76 runs in the final group match against West Indies.

With no batsman showing consistency during the Group stage it was intriguing to note the absence of Pathiraja in the last three matches of the World Cup. Until the World Cup, Pathiraja had played in 13 matches and had batted on 12 occasions. He had aggregated 475 runs, the highest by a Sri Lankan batsmen. Apart from Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Pathiraja was the only batsman to have scored a Youth ODI century. He was out for naught in the first World Cup match against Scotland and was not picked again.

Sri Lanka’s bowling and Wellalage’s selection of bowlers, at various junctures, were truly remarkable. His decision to keep faith in Vinuja Ranpul in the quarterfinal is a case in point. Playing his first match of the World Cup, Ranpul bowled his first eight overs at a stretch. Despite not taking a wicket in his first five overs he was persevered with and he produced results in his sixth and seventh overs and triggered a collapse. He took five wickets for ten runs, though it was in vain. He played no part in the World Cup until the quarter-final and fans would not even have seen him bowl if not for an injury to Matheesha Pathirana.

Sri Lanka will now take on South Africa on Monday in the competition to decide the final standings of teams.

Of the bowlers, Wellalage still has the chance to leave the World Cup as the highest wicket-taker. As of Friday (28) Wellalage had 16 wickets in four matches. That was four more than the second-highest wicket-taker, Joshua Boyden of England U19s.