Visakhapatnam, Oct 5: India Under-19s reinforced their domination in the quadrangular series by beating the Sri Lanka Under-19s by seven wickets; this after B Aparajith and Vikas Mishra restricted Sri Lankans for 196 after being put in to bowl.
The Indian colts, led by skipper Unmukt Chand, chased down the target comfortably with 19 overs to spare. Chand led the chase with an unbeaten 122 while his opening partner, Akhil Herwadkar, contributed 51.
The Indian batsmen tackled the Sri Lankan bowlers with ease. Herwadkar and Kumar Deobrat (13 runs), two of the three wickets to fall, were sent back by leg-spinner Pulina Tharanga while wicketkeeper Smit Patel was run-out for three runs.
Earlier, after winning the toss and opting to bat first, the Sri Lanka Under-19s were bundled out for below par score of 196 in 44.3 overs. Spinners Aparajith and Vikas Mishra scripted the downfall of the Sri Lankan colts. Left-arm spinner Mishra claimed three wickets while off-spinner B Aparajith, who has been picking wickets consistently throughout the tournament, finished with a five-for.
After Harmeet Singh got the Indian colts their first breakthrough with the wicket of Sri Lankan opener Shehan Fernando, Vikas Mishra and B Aparajith ensured that the Sri Lankan lads did not settle down.
Niroshan Dickwella (57 runs) and Lasith Abeyratne tried to put up a fight adding 49 runs for the second wicket until Aparajith struck to remove the latter. The wicket of Abeyratne started the downslide for Sri Lanka who continued to lose wickets at frequent intervals. A valiant effort of 40 runs in 43 deliveries late in the innings by Tharindu Kaushal helped the visitors reach the 196-run mark. The score, however, proved to be less than sufficient against the Indian colts who have been in great form in the series so far.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka Under-19s 196 all out in 44.3 overs (N Dickwella 57, T Kaushal 40, B Aparajith 5/35, V Mishra 3/37) lost to India Under-19s 202/3 in 31 overs (U Chand 122*, A Herwadkar 51) by seven wickets
