By M. Shamil Amit 

Sharujan Shanmuganathan continued his batting prowess as he cracked a match-winning knock of 102 runs to help Sri Lanka U-19 coast to a convincing 131-run win over Afghanistan U-19 in the ongoing Under-19 Asia Cup tournament encounter played at Sharjah.

The win saw the Sri Lanka U-19 side chalk up their second successive win to remain unbeaten and take the top spot in Group ‘B’. 

Afghanistan U-19, in pursuit of 244 runs, was never going to be in the run chase as they put themselves in a spot of bother as they lost their top five wickets with the scoreboard reading 54 in the 16th over.

Despite making a recovery from a 48-run stand between Hamza Khan and Nazifullah Amin for the sixth wicket, the separation of the pair saw them losing their last wickets in 19 balls for the addition of just ten runs and was bundled out for a paltry score of 112 runs. 

Praveen Maneesha bagged three scalps, while skipper Vihas Thewmika, Viran Chamuditha, and Newton Ranjithkumar ended with two wickets each.

Earlier in the day, batsman in-form Sharujan came to the rescue of Sri Lanka U-19 as they underwent an early setback, losing their first wicket in the first over after Vihas won the toss and elected to take first lease of the wicket.

Sharujan, who made a knock of 62 against the Nepal U-19 in the first match, continued his batting form as he cracked 102 in 132 balls, which included seven boundaries, and put on two valuable partnerships, first of 100 runs for the second wicket with Pulindu Perera, who made 53 with five boundaries, and the other of 42 runs for the third wicket with Vimath Dinsara, who chipped in with 26 for Sri Lanka U-19 to end their innings with a score of 243/7.

Bangladesh Under 19 too posted their second successive win with a comfortable five-wicket win over Nepal Under 19 in another Group ‘B’ played in Dubai.

Bangladesh U-19, after bowling out Nepal U-19 for a score of 141 runs, was steered to victory by Zawad Abrar and skipper Azizul Hakim, who both hit half tons and associated in a match-winning 90-run stand for the second wicket to help the side race to the target in the 29th over.

Two matches are down for decision today, with both being in the Group ‘A’ segment. Host United Arab Emirates Under 19 will meet Pakistan Under 19 in Dubai, and India Under 19 will confront Japan Under 19 in Sharjah.

Results:

At Sharjah - Sri Lanka U-19 won by 131 runs 

Sri Lanka U-19 243/7 in 50 overs (Sharujan Shanmuganathan 102, Pulindu Perera 53, Vimath Dinsara 26, Lakvin Abeysinghe 16; A.M. Ghazanfar 3/35)
Afghanistan U-19 112 in 28.2 overs (Nazifullah Amin 33, Hamza Khan 32; Praveen Maneesha 3/16, Vihas Thewmika 2:10, Viran Chamuditha 2/14, Newton Ranjithkumar 2/28)

At Dubai - Bangladesh U-19 won by five wickets 

Nepal U-19 141 in 45.4 overs (Aakash Tripathi 43, Uttam Magar 29, Abisekh Tiwari 29; Rizan Hossain 2/8, Iqbal Hossain Emon 2/24, Al Fahad 2/26)
Bangladesh U-19 142/5 in 28.2 overs (Zawad Abrar 59, Azizul Hakim 52 n.o.; Yuvraj Khatri 4/23)