ICC U19 World Cup Hicks, Dixon guides Australia U19 to easy win

Australia U19, helped by Ryan Hicks and Harry Dixon, ended their league campaign of the ongoing ICC U19 World Cup with an unbeaten record when they coasted to a convincing six-wicket win over Sri Lanka U19 in the match played at Bloemfontein, South Africa, yesterday.

The foundation for the win was laid by Dixon, who hit 49 in 42 balls, and in the latter part of the inning, Hicks made the finishing touches by making an unbeaten 77, inclusive of seven boundaries.

Hicks, in the process, was associated in a match-winning, unbroken 82-run stand for the fifth wicket with Tom Campbell, who chipped in with 33 for them to race to the target in the 49th over and to end as the top team in Group C.

Australia U19, in their modest run chase of 209 runs, was given a solid start by openers Dixon and Sam Konstas, who together put on 71 runs in 78 balls before left arm spinner Vishwa Lahiru made the breakthrough with the wicket of Dixon, who was unfortunate to miss out on half ton but cracked a quick-fire knock of 49, which had five boundaries and two sixes.
Australia U19 lost two quick wickets for the addition of nine runs and slid to 80/3 in the 16th over. The fourth wicket pair, Hicks and Harjas Singh, came to their rescue, and at the halfway stage, the Aussie juniors were on 111/3 before the pair was separated, having put on a valuable 49-run stand.

Earlier, Sri Lanka had an inauspicious start after skipper Sineth Jayawardena won the toss and elected to take first lease of the wicket, as they lost their first wicket in the fourth ball of the first over.

They made a recovery through a 47-run stand for the second wicket between skipper Sineth and Supun Waduge, and their separation saw Sri Lanka U19 lose their third wicket seven runs later and be in a spot of bother on 54/3 in the 16th over.

Dinura Kalupahana was involved in two valuable partnerships, the first of which was 46 runs for the fourth wicket with Ravishan de Silva and 44 runs for the fifth wicket with Rusanda Gamage, which enabled Sri Lanka U19 to recover to 144/5 in the 36th over.

Dinura put on another brief stand of 22 runs for the sixth wicket with Malsha Tharupathi before his innings came to an end, having made a 78-ball knock of 60 that included six boundaries and two sixes.

Later, Sharujan Shanmuganathan put in some stiff resistance, but the Sri Lanka U19 outfit kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually bowled out for 208 runs.
Meanwhile, the top two from each group advanced to the Super Sixes, namely, Group A: India 19 and Bangladesh U19; Group B: South Africa U19 and England U19; Group C: Australia 19 and Sri Lanka U19; and Group D: Pakistan U19 and New Zealand U19.

India 19, Australia U19, and Pakistan U19 ended the league campaign with an unbeaten record with three wins from three. The Super Sixes will get underway tomorrow (30), while the two semi-finals are scheduled to be played on February 6 and 8, and the final is scheduled to be played on February 11. 

(MSA)

Result

At Bloemfontein - Australia U19 won by six wickets

Sri Lanka U19: 208 in 49.5 overs (Dinura Kalupahana 64, Ravishan de Silva 30, Sharujan Shanmuganathan 21, Supun Waduge 17, Sineth Jayawardena 16; Callum Vidler 3/28, Mahli Beardman 2/30, Tom Campbell 2/47)
Australia U19 211/4 in 48.5 overs (Harry Dixon 49, Sam Konstas 23, Harjas Singh 17, Ryan Hicks 77 n.o., Tom Campbell 33 n.o.; Vishwa Lahiru 2/24)