Captain Unmukt Chand (116) slammed a century as India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to storm into the final of the Under-19 Asia Cup cricket tournament here on Friday.
Chand, who opened with Manan Vohra (17), led from the front with a strokeful innings as India chased down the target of 245 with 2.5 overs to spare at the Kinrara Academy Oval.
India will now take on Pakistan in the final on Sunday. The bedrock of India’s chase was a third-wicket partnership of 105 between Chand and Vijay Zol (54).
Chand was the last man out in the 47th over but by then he had taken India to the threshold of victory at 239 for four. Akshdeep Nath (15*) and Sanju Samson (5*) then took India to 247 for four in 47.1 overs with the latter ending the run chase with a four.
For Sri Lanka, Tharindu Kaushal took two wickets for 20 runs while Sanitha del Mel and Lahiru Madushanka got one apiece. Earlier, opting to bat, Sri Lanka never really had a grip on the game with the Indian bowlers keeping them in check.
Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals and only could go close to the 250-run mark, thanks to a 103-run fifth-wicket stand between Sandun Weerakkody (73) and Niroshan Dickwella (66). Off-spinner Baba Aparajith and left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh grabbed two wickets apiece for India.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 244 for 7 (Weerakkody 73, Dickwella 66); India U-19s 247 for 4 (Chand 116, Zol 54)
Smith almost quit Test captaincy
Johannesburg: Graeme Smith contemplated stepping down from leadership role in all formats after last year’s World Cup but was talked out of quitting Test captaincy by coach Gary Kirsten, a report said. Smith led South Africa in all three formats for eight years but quit captaincy of the Twenty20 and ODI teams in August 2010 and April 2011 respectively. “After the World Cup, when things were tough, it certainly was something that was on my mind. Gary played a role in me keeping the captaincy,” said Smith.
Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals and only could go close to the 250-run mark, thanks to a 103-run fifth-wicket stand between Sandun Weerakkody (73) and Niroshan Dickwella (66). Off-spinner Baba Aparajith and left-arm spinner Harmeet Singh grabbed two wickets apiece for India.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 244 for 7 (Weerakkody 73, Dickwella 66); India U-19s 247 for 4 (Chand 116, Zol 54)
Smith almost quit Test captaincy
Johannesburg: Graeme Smith contemplated stepping down from leadership role in all formats after last year’s World Cup but was talked out of quitting Test captaincy by coach Gary Kirsten, a report said. Smith led South Africa in all three formats for eight years but quit captaincy of the Twenty20 and ODI teams in August 2010 and April 2011 respectively. “After the World Cup, when things were tough, it certainly was something that was on my mind. Gary played a role in me keeping the captaincy,” said Smith.
Butt calls for trial in Pakistan
KARACHI: Former captain Salman Butt, who was released from prison last week after serving less than a quarter of his 30 month sentence, has called for an open trial against him in Pakistan. “If you look at the evidence you can judge that I didn’t get justice,” Butt said.
Captain Misbah back to boost Pak
COLOMBO: Captain Misbah-ul-Haq will return from suspension to bolster Pakistan’s under-pressure batting lineup for the second Test against Sri Lanka starting on Saturday. Misbah missed the series opener for a slow over rate offense as the Sri Lankans took a 1-0 lead with a 209-run win at Galle.
ONGC in DDCA ‘Hot Weather’ final
New Delhi: Sourav Kumar’s 42* and his tight bowling spell of 1/21 helped ONGC beat Tedco in a DDCA Hot Weather semifinal by five wickets. ONGC play the winner of other semifinal between Air India and Collage Group.