Sri Lanka stun Australia after Wellalage heroics

By Chris On Jan 18, 2022

West Indies 96 for 3 (Parris 26, Peet 1-15) beat Scotland 95 all out (Davidson 43, Sankar 3-17, Mahase 2-16) by seven wickets

A devastating opening spell from West Indies fast bowler Shiva Sankar rattled Scotland so bad that they could never recover. Scotland were bowled out for 95 and West Indies chased the target down in less than 20 overs to earn their first points in their home U-19 World Cup.

Sankar got the new ball to swing away from right-handers, and his first scalp was Scotland opener Charlie Tear after he smacked one straight to mid off. Sankar then went full on middle stump to No. 3 Samuel Elstone, and he missed the flick and was out lbw. The third wicket for Sankar, though, was his best ball – an outswinger enticing No. 4 Tomas Mackintosh to drive, only for him to edge it to the slip cordon.

The score of 29 for 3 was soon 57 for 5 when left-arm spinner Anderson Mahase picked off the next two batters. No. 5 Jack Jarvis pulled a short ball to Sankar at midwicket and the No. 6 Muhaymen Majeed missed a flick after charging down the track, leaving the wicketkeeper to complete a straightforward stumping.

With the lower order exposed at one end, the rest of West Indies’ bowling unit went for the kill. McKenny Clarke’s extra pace induced an edge off Rafay Khan, after which the tall right-arm offspinner Onaje Amory used his height to get turn and bounce and find the outside edges of Lyle Robertson and Scotland captain Charlie Peet.

The tenth wicket, however, was of Scotland’s best batter Oliver Davidson. Having opened the batting and seen all the wickets tumble around him, he had to show restraint through his innings. He trundled along to 43 in 92 balls before being the last man out in anticlimactic fashion, run out while looking for a two. It was a terrific performance on the field led by stand-in captain Giovonte Depeiza, who was leading the side in Ackeem Auguste’s absence.

West Indies opener Matthew Nandu was tentative in their chase of 96, more so after his first-ball duck against Australia in the tournament opener. The other opener Shaqkere Parris, though, was more enterprising with his shot making. Together they put on 37 for the first wicket.

Parris entertained with three fours and a six, but he seemed to get bogged down by Peet’s unorthodox round-arm left-arm spinning deliveries that seemed to dart into the stumps. Parris missed a Leet delivery that went straight with the arm, and he was walking back for 26 in 29 balls after his leg stump was rattled.

The other left-arm spinner Oliver Davidson soon removed Rivaldo Clarke after his cut took the edge to the keeper, but that was about all the success Scotland had. West Indies did not lose a wicket from 66 for 3 onwards, and the unbeaten batters Teddy Bishop (23*) and Johnson (14*) saw the game off without any fuss.

Sri Lanka 177 for 6 (Wellalage 52, Bandara 33, Somarathne 32*, Whitney 2-39) beat Australia 175 all out (Kellaway 54, Wellalage 5-28) by four wickets

In the other Group D match, Sri Lanka captain Dunith Wellalage produced a dominating all-round show against Australia to throw the group wide open with one round of matches left.

Wellalage – the batting allrounder who also bowls left-arm spin – first ran through the Australia batting with a five-for to bowl them out for 175. And when Sri Lanka were 49 for 4 in their chase, he smacked 52 to set up their win.

Although Wellalage top-scored in the chase, he was ably assisted from the No. 6 and No. 7 batters who came after him. Wicketkeeper Anjala Bandara made 33 in a 70-run fifth-wicket stand with Wellalage. And after that, Wellalage added a further 52 with Ranuda Somarathne. After Wellalage fell, Somarathne saw the chase off to finish unbeaten on 32.

Australia’s only bright spot was their opener Campbell Kellaway, who made 54. Wellalage, who introduced himself as the sixth bowler, made the most damage through the middle overs. After removing Kellaway in the 29th over, he rattled the stumps twice in the 31st to dismiss Nivethan Radhakrishnan (21) and Tobias Snell.

Those three wickets in quick time saw Australia fall from 107 for 3 to 112 for 6, and if it wasn’t for William Salzmann’s 22, they would’ve folded for much lesser.

Sri Lanka’s win sets Group D up for a grandstand finish. The winner of the Sri Lanka-West Indies clash in the last round definitely progresses to the Super League stage. But the loser of that game can also go through if Australia don’t win by a big enough margin against Scotland in their last match.

Pakistan 315 for 9 (Haseebullah 135*, Irfan 75, Falao 5-58) beat Zimbabwe 200 all out (Bennett 82, Awais 6-56) by 115 runs

Over in Group C, Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batter Haseebullah Khan hammered 135 to lift Pakistan to 315 for 9, a total 115 runs too much for Zimbabwe in their game at Diego Martin.

Haseebullah put on a 189-run third-wicket stand with the No. 4 Irfan Khan, who made 75 in 73 balls. After that, the rest of Pakistan’s batters smacked quick-fire cameos to give Zimbabwe an uphill chase. The 16-year-old Awais Ali then picked up three late wickets in the second innings to finish with 6 for 56, the tournament’s best figures so far.

Haseebullah, the opener, hammered ten fours and four sixes in his 155-ball innings while Irfan crunched six fours and one six. Their third-wicket stand was broken by right-arm seamer Alex Falao when Irfan fell in the 45th over, but that did not plug the flow of runs.

Qasim Akram, the Pakistan captain, scored an 11-ball 20, Abbas Ali made 13 in six balls and the No. 9 Zeeshan Zamar hit three sixes in his six-ball 21 to take Pakistan to 315. Falao picked up another four wickets after Irfan’s dismissal to finish with 5 for 58.

Pakistan’s opening bowlers, Zeeshan Zameer and Ahmed Khan, together with first-change bowler Awais pegged Zimbabwe back early with their breakthroughs. On the back of their effort, Pakistan had reduced Zimbabwe to 82 for 6 which soon was 111 for 7.

But Brian Bennett went on to hit a 92-ball 82 to get Zimbabwe as close to the target as he could. He did the bulk of the scoring in a 73-run eighth-wicket stand with Tendekai Mataranyika to take Zimbabwe to 200. But Awais returned to clean both of them up, and also the final wicket, to finish with a six-for. Despite Zimbabwe’s late rally to protect their net run rate, they still fell short by 115.

Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx

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