The Indian colts registered a terrific series win over Sri Lanka on Friday at Moratuwa. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s unbeaten century cruised his team to take the game home by 8 wickets, ultimately conquering the series 3-2.
The Sri Lanka U-19 won the toss and elected to bat first. The Indian bowlers managed to restrict the hosts to a modest 212 for 9 in 50 overs after a collective effort. The visitors then knocked off the runs in 42.4 overs, courtesy Jaiswal, who hit eight fours and three sixes.
Jaiswal looked solid at one end of three good partnerships — 71 for the opening stand with Devdutt Padikkal (38), 72 for the second wicket with Pawan Shah (36) and 69 for the unbroken third wicket stand with skipper Aryan Juyal (22).
Under the guidance of coach WV Raman, the Indian young guns to return strongly in the tournament after trailing 1-2.
Mohit Jangra remained the top wicket taker from the Indian side, claiming the best figures of 2 for 30 while all the others got a wicket apiece. Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for 39 runs in a sudden middle-order collapse after looking good for a big score at 174 for 3.
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For the hosts, Madushka Fernando dropped anchor, scoring 95 off 136 balls with seven boundaries, before seamer Jangra trapped him leg before. He added 101 runs for the third wicket with Keshawa Fernando (56).
Once Keshawa was dismissed, Madhushka went into a shell and the Indian left-arm spinners Siddharth Desai (1/33) and Harsh Tyagi (1/43) dried up the runs.
The chase was never a problem as Jaiswal, who was dropped for poor form, came back strongly, being promoted up the order.
Brief Scores:
Sri Lanka U-19 212/9 in 50 overs (Madhushka Fernando 95, Keshawa Fernando 56, Mohit Jangra 2/30)
India U-19 214/2 in 42.4 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 114 no). India U-19 won by 8 wickets. India win series 3-2.