Second Youth Tests fizzles out to a draw

By Amindha de Alwis

The Second Youth Test of Sri Lanka Under 19’s tour of England ended in a draw at Derby after four days of heavy run scoring.
The home side were 249 for the loss of five wickets, leading by 88 runs, when the players agreed to shake hands during the final session.

Faced with a deficit of 161 runs at the start of their second innings, the English top order adopted an aggressive approach with captain Ben McKinney (74) and Ross Whitley (63) powering the home side away from any threat of losing the game.

Whitfield was particularly severe on the bowlers with his 63 runs coming off just 46 balls.
Leg-spinner Raveen De Silva gave Sri Lanka a sniff with three quick breakthroughs, but James Rew and Tom Lawes combined for an unbeaten sixth wicket stand of 60 runs to dampen any hopes the visitors might have had of a whitewash.

Earlier in the day, number ten batsman Duvindu Ranatunga struck his way to 54 off 58 deliveries to extend Sri Lanka Under 19’s first innings total to 542 and give his side a 161 run lead.

With the visitors winning the red ball leg of the tour 1-0, focus will now shift to the three-match Youth ODI series which begins in Worcester on Monday.

England U19: 381 and 249 for 5 in 59.4 overs (B KcKinney 74, R Whitfield 63; R De Silva 3 for 83)
Sri Lanka U19: 542 in 157.1 overs (S Daniel 155, R De Silva 74, V Ranpul 65 , P Pathiraja 55, D Ranatunga 54; Y Majid 3 for 104)