Rahul Dravid’s India U-19 Defeat Sri Lanka to Win Asia Cup Title
Himanshu Rana and Shubman Gill notched fifties as India won the U-19 Asia Cup title on Friday.
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India dished out a clinical performance to beat hosts Sri Lanka by 34 runs and lift the Asian Cricket Council Under-19s Asia Cup title at Colombo on Saturday.
Opting to bat first after winning the toss, India under-19s first posted a competitive total of 273 for eight in their 50 overs and then rode on its spinners to bowl out Sri Lanka under-19 to 239 in 48.4 overs at the R Premadasa Stadium.
The first five batsmen, especially Himanshu Rana (71 off 790 and one-down Shubman Gill (70 off 92), were instrumental in laying the foundation for India's total, which in the end turned out to be too much for the islanders to overwhelm.
After opener Prithvi Shaw's (39) dismissal at the team score of 67, Rana and Gill added 88 runs for the second wicket to take India's innings forward.
Later, skipper Abhishek Sharma (29), middle-order batsman Salman Khan (26) and tailender Kamlesh Nagarkoti (23) too played a useful hand to help India's cause.
For Sri Lanka under-19s, pacer Nipun Ransika (3/50) and left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama (3/53) shared six wickets between them.
Chasing 274 runs for win, Sri Lanka Under-19s lost opener Vishva Chathuranga (13) early before Reven Kelly (62) and Hasitha Boyagoda (37) stabilised their chase with a 78-run second wicket stand. Skipper Kamindu Mendis (53) also made a half-century for the Lankans.
The hosts at one stage were in control of the chase at 196 for four in 37.4 overs before they lost a bundle of wickets lose control of the match.
The Lankans lost the plot in the last 10 overs as their last six batsmen could contribute only 43 runs.
Skipper Abhishek (4/37) produced a fine display of slow left-arm orthodox bowling and was assisted ably by leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, who returned with impressive figures of three for 22 from his quota of 10 overs to dismantle the Lankans.
(With inputs from PTI)
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