Way back in Dec 1986, India
played Sri Lanka in ODI no. 407 at Green Park, Kanpur. Remember watching
Ashantha De mel bowl well, but went without wickets.
Now in 1st T20
no. 496 at Pune, Indians were rattled. Kasun
Rajitha, Dushmantha Chameera and Dasun Shanaka - Sri Lanka's lanky seam-bowling
labour force - came upon a thoroughly surprising green Pune deck, and wound up
delivering their team a surprisingly thorough victory. The three quicks took
eight wickets for 59 between them, to blow India away for 101.
The good news, on the same
day, is in U19 WC, India defeated Lanka
to reach the finals. India 267 for 9 (Anmolpreet 72, Sarfaraz 59, Asitha 4-43)
beat Sri Lanka 170 (Mendis 39, Dagar 3-21) by 97 runs. India soared to the final of the Under-19
World Cup, for the fifth time, after their dominant 97-run win against Sri
Lanka in the first semi-final in Mirpur. India's top order was tested by Sri
Lanka's pacers on a pitch with a tinge of green, but Anmolpreet Singh and
Sarfaraz Khan added 96 together, and from thereon there was no stopping India,
as they eventually sealed the victory with 44 balls to spare.
The other Semis will be
played today. West Indies' ability to surprise made sure that it wasn't going
to be an all-Asian last four at the Under-19 World Cup. While Bangladesh
reaching the semi-finals wasn't unexpected after they started the tournament
with a resounding win against the defending champions, West Indies' journey has
been more topical. Unlike the hosts, West Indies started their campaign with a
loss and then showed their batting firepower against Fiji. They entered the
knockouts in controversial circumstances and jolted the Pakistan line-up with
impressive fast bowling. Alzarri Joseph's ability with the ball will be vital
to a start that could prove to be decisive.
In their earlier match, WI
beat Pak. Shimron Hetmyer, the West Indies captain, had contributed all of 23
runs in four innings going into the quarterfinals of the Under-19 World Cup.
When the heat was on, he led the way with a sparkling half-century that helped
West Indies chase down Pakistan's 227 for 6 by five wickets in Fatullah to set
up a semifinal date with hosts Bangladesh. Chemar Holder, the pacer who flew
into Dhaka only two days ago as a replacement for the injured Obed McCoy, did
the early damage.
Returning back to that
match at Kanpur, after a low-score, Lanka still won by 117 runs, bowling out
Indians for paltry 78. The pitch which had played so well in the Test match was
watered and used again for the one-day international, but it played so
unreliably that only a ninth-wicket stand of 40 in the last four overs gave Sri
Lanka a reasonable total after they had been put in. India collapsed against
Ranatunga's accurate slow-medium pace – he ended up with flattering figures of
6-1-14-4.
Regards – S. Sampathkumar
11th Feb 2016
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