Riding on Nipun Dananjaya Perera’s unbeaten 92 the Sri Lankan U-19 team overcame India by five wickets in the second Youth ODI to draw the five-match series 1-1 in Colombo on Thursday.
India’s decision to bat first backfired early and soon the visitors were bundled for 193 in 47 overs at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground.
Opener Pawan Shah top-scored with 49 off 64 balls, which included six boundaries to the fence, while Ayush Badoni (36), Sameer Choudhary (32) and Ajay Dev Goud (24) also played some handy knocks to propel the score to a competitive total.
Left-arm spinner Shashika Dulshan finished with 3/27 from his 10 overs and was the pick of the bowlers, while Naveen Fernando, Lakshitha Manasinghe, and Navod Paranavithana accounted for two wickets each.
In reply, the Sri Lankans were off to a poor start, losing Paranavithana early, but Perera along with Pasindu Sooriyabandara (52 off 71 balls) held anchor and stirred the team home.
Perera, who remained not out on 92, struck seven boundaries during his 112-ball knock, while Sooriyabandara found the fence five times helping Sri Lanka to chase down the target with 26 balls to spare.
Earlier, the Indian U-19 had beaten the Sri Lanka U-19 team by five wickets in the first Youth ODI and has also drubbed the hosts 2-0 in the Youth Test series.
BRIEF SCORES: Sri Lanka U-19 195/5 in 45.4 overs ((Nipun Danajaya 92*; Pasindu Sooriyabandara 52; Siddharth Desai 2/31) beat India U-19 193 all out in 47 overs (Pawan Shah 49; Ayush Badoni 36; PWS Dulshan 3/27)