Sri Lanka Under 19 Tour of England Somaratne blitzes England U19 for famous Sri Lanka U19 win

A brilliant century from Ranuda Somaratne propelled Sri Lanka Under 19 to complete an impressive chase and a three-wicket win on the final day of their first Youth Test against England Under 19 in Chelmsford yesterday. 
Set a target of 273 in 59 overs, Sri Lanka were 30 for 3 in 9.4 overs when Somaratne came to the crease, and struck 12 boundaries and a six, reaching his century in just 97 balls. 

Fittingly, it was the last of Somaratne’s boundaries that took Sri Lanka Under 19 across the line, to reach the target with 11 balls to spare. 

Wicket-keeper Lahiru Dawatage was the next highest scorer, just missing out on a half-cenutry, out leg before wicket for 49, but importantly his contrbiution came at a run a ball. 

Thomas Aspinwall removed four Sri Lankan batsmen, for 67 runs, but like almost all of the other bowlers was expensive. 

Left arm spinner Wanuja Sahan, with 4 for 89, and right-arm pacer Duvindu Ranatunga, with 3 for 34, had earlier bowled out England Under 19 for 292, to set up a challenging run chase. 

Resuming from their overnight score of 199 for 3, England Under 19 lost overnight batsman George Bell early in the day for 29, with Matthew Hurst holding the innings together. 

But with none of the batsman who followed able to score more than 14, and half of them scoring in single digits, they lost the last six wickets for 69 runs -- Ranatunga claiming his three wickets during that stage of play. 

Chief Scores:

England Under 19 – 387 and 292 (Ben Mckinney 56, Ross Whitfield 110, George Bell 29, Matthew Hurst 39, Wanuja Sahan 4 for 89, Duvindu Ranatunga 3 for 34, Raveen de Silva 2 for 70)

Sri Lanka Under 19 407 and 276 for 7 (Ranuda Somaratne 120, Lahiru Dawatage 49, Wanuja Sahan 23, Asitha Wanninayake 22, Raveen de Silva 22, Thomas Aspinwall 4 for 67, Dominic Kelly 2 for 52)