Sri Lanka won by 77 runs against Namibia in their second Group C match of the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa yesterday.
Sri Lanka made an early breakthrough as Garuka Sanketh bowled Gerhard Janse van Rensburg for a duck, and a freak runout in the eighth over triggered Namibia’s collapse from 15/1 to 21/6 in 38 balls. Kalupahana and Vishwa Lahiru shared two and three wickets, respectively, while Ruvishan Perera claimed three crucial wickets. This ensured Nambia’s defeat as they were bowled out for 56, their second-lowest total in the U19 World Cup history. The Man of the Match was Supun Waduge.
Earlier, the Namibia skipper, having won the toss, opted to bowl first and invited Sri Lanka to bat. Openers, skipper Sineth Jayawardene (10) and Pulindu Perera (3) faced the first six overs with Namibia adding the pressure right from the start. In the seventh over, a miscommunication between the two batsmen led to Pulindu’s run-out during Junior Kariata’s over.
Coming in at number three, Supun Waduge single-handedly carried the innings, scoring an unbeaten 56. Sineth, the first victim of Zacheo Vuuren, was bowled out for 10, and Ravishan de Silva (2) was dismissed in Vuuren’s first two overs.
Rusanda Gamage tried to add initiative with a couple of boundaries but eventually fell for 17 to van Vuuren.
The pacer had his fourth when he got the important wicket of Dinura Kalupahana (0), leaving Sri Lanka at 71/5 after 20 overs.
Namibia’s bowlers maintained an attacking approach, especially after the 20-over mark, with Hansie de Villiers taking three crucial wickets with his off-spin and Sri Lanka were all out for 133 in 37.6 overs.
Chief scores:
Sri Lanka Under-19s: 133 in 37.5 overs (Supun Waduge 56, Zacheo van Vuuren 4/23, Johannes de Villiers 3/19)
Namibia Under-19s : 56 in 27 overs (Peter-Daniel Blignaut 18, Vishwa Lahiru 3/19, Ruvishan Perera 3/3, Dinura Kalupahana 2/8)
