Virat, Ahmed power India U19 to fourth win

Brief Scores:Sri Lanka U-19 221/9 in 50 overs (Kaveen Bandara 74(116), Kamindu Mendis 65(93), Khaleel Ahmed 4/55) lost to India U-19 223/6 in 47.5 overs (Washington Sundar 61(77), Virat Singh 60*(89), Lahiru Kumara 2/33)

After winning the toss, India’s captain for the day Ishan Kishan send the hosts into batting at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo. Kaveen Bandara and Kamindu Mendis joined hands for the hosts for the fourth wicket after Khaleel Ahmed and Washington Sundar took wickets to put Sri Lanka in a spot of bother at 75 for three.

The 91-run partnership was finally broken by Khaleel Ahmed to clean up Kaveen Bandara for 74. Kamindu Mendis followed his partner back to the dressing room shortly falling to Ahmed for a well-made 65. The duo’s departure started a slide in the Sri Lankan batting as the hosts finished their innings at 221/9. Seamer Khaleel Ahmed was the most successful bowler in the Indian side picking up four wickets for 55 runs.

Chasing a target of 222, India lost openers Himanshu Rana and Ishan Kishan cheaply. Washington Sundar and Anmolpreet Singh steadied the Indian innings by stitching together a 55-run partnership for the third wicket. Sundar and Anmolpreet fell in quick succession to cause a slight bother in the Indian camp. With India at 119/5, Virat Singh and Mahipal Lomror joined hands to take the visitors closer to the target. Lomror fell 41 runs away from a victory; however, Virat Singh accumulated the rest of the runs to guide India to their fourth consecutive win in the tournament.

India will now face the winner of the match between Sri Lanka and England in the final on December 21.