Sri Lanka U-19 Beat South Africa U-19 by 5 Wickets as Viran Chamuditha Hits Stunning Century
Sri Lanka U-19 won by 5 wickets. It was a comfortable chase by the team. They played with good control in both batting and bowling. The match featured two fine centuries, but Viran Chamuditha’s hundred during the chase stood out the most. South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first. Their openers started off brilliantly by collecting boundaries in the powerplay.
The quicks were proving to be ineffective. However post the powerplay, the spinners came into action and slowed things up. The batting pair struggled to score and that is when Adnaan Lagadien perished for 46 with the scoring being 96. It felt like South Africa would get past 300 from the way they started. However, the Sri Lankan spinners had different ideas, and they ran through the South African middle order especially Vigneshwaran Akash.
His googly was something the batters just could not read. From one end the other opener Jorich van Schalkwyk stuck around solidly but kept losing partners. Jorich got to a well-deserved 100 as he showed great foot work against the turning ball. However, apart from Paul James' 37 no other middle order batter got past 20. South Africa were struggling at 221/7.
Viran Chamuditha’s Century Guides Sri Lanka U-19 to Comfortable 5-Wicket Win
That is when a late flourish from Michael Kruiskamp made the side get past 260. The pick of the bowlers for the Sri Lankan side were Vigneshwaran Akash (4-46) and Chamika Heenatigala (1-29). It was a score around par so South Africa had a great chance of they struck with the new ball.
They did when the chase started and got the first Sri Lankan wicket with just 23 on the board. However, post that, they looked clueless. Viran Chamuditha and Senuja Wekunagoda stitched a mammoth 143 runs stand. They put Sri Lanka in the driver's seat. At that point, Senuja was dismissed for 48. However, Viran kept on going strong. He notched up his second 100 of this CWC.
He found some good support from Vimath Dinsara. Sri Lanka lost a couple of wickets in quick succession but the damage was already done from the top order. All rounder Chamika Heenatigala and Dulnith Sigera took the team across the finish line. The pick of the bowlers for the South African side was Corne Botha with 2-37. Sri Lanka at the end of the day batted with much more clarity and control. That is what came in handy on a decent surface here in Bulawayo.
