Courtesy of the Island,30 April 2013
Roshan Anuruddha
Sri Lanka Under-19 won the five-mat ch Youth ODI series 3-2 with a 62 runs victory over their Bangladesh counterparts as Gurukula College all-rounder Roshan Anuruddha set the stage for the victory with a half century in the final Youth ODI played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur in Bangladesh yesterday. After scoring 185 runs thanks largely to a half century by Anuruddha, bowlers did well to restrict the home team to 123 runs to win the final match and the series. While speedsters rattled the top order, Dharmasoka College spinner Ramesh Mendis cleaned up the tail with a three wicket haul to seal the victory in the 36th over. In their chase, Bangladesh lost their first three wickets for 35 runs with Anuruddha taking the first wicket for ten runs. Except Mehedy Hasan (37 runs) no other batsman could top 20 runs as they lost wickets at regular intervals.
While D.S .Senanayake College speedster Binura Fernando picked up two wickets, Chamika Karunaratne and Anuruddha picked up a wicket apiece in the speed department. Spinner Ramesh Mendis was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets. Richmond College all rounder A.K. Tyron picked up one wicket and was also responsible for at least one run out.
Earlier put to bat, the visitors too struggled for runs after losing three wickets for 23 runs. They were 137 for seven wickets at one stage but the back to the wall knock of Anuruddha made sure that Sri Lanka has enough runs to defend. Anuruddha faced 77 balls for his half century and scored six boundaries in his knock. Top order batsmen Minod Bhanuka and Dinuk Wickramanayake scored valuable 30s.
After trailing 2-1, the tourists did well to win the series as they scored back to back victories in the last two matches. Sri Lanka Under-19 won the rain affected fourth match by six wickets according to D/L/ method. After restricting the home team to 244 for eight wickets (47.4 overs) they chased a revised target of 200 runs (in 22.1 overs) with 41 balls to spare.
The just concluded five match youth ODI series the first oversea tour for the team in preparation for the next year’s Youth World Cup. However, some players who took part in the series are not eligible to play next year.
Brief Scores of the 5th Youth ODI
Sri Lanka Under-19 185 all out in 46.4 overs (Minod Bhanuka 37, Dinuk Wickramanayake 32, Roshan Anuruddha 50, Ramesh Mendis 18n.o; Rifat Pradhan 3/29, Mehedy Hasan 2/24)
Bangladesh Under-19 123 all out in 36 overs (Mehedy Hasan 37, Mosaddek Hossain 18, Rahatul Ferdous 17n.o; Binura Fernando 2/17, Ramesh Mendis 3/24)