Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe U-19 World Cup Highlights: Sri Lanka Beat Zimbabwe By 39 Runs In Rain-Hit Encounter

Right then, that's all from this game and brings an end to an action-packed weekend in the 2024 Under-19 World Cup. But the action continues on Monday, 22nd January when three-time champions Australia will open their campaign as they take on Namibia, whereas Bangladesh will lock horns with Ireland. Both games will commence at 1.30 pm GMT (8.00 am GMT), but as you know, you can join us earlier for the build-up. Till then, take care, and cheers!

The skipper of Sri Lanka Under-19, Sineth Jayawardene says the wicket had uneven bounce at the start and with the early 3 wickets the credit has to go to Ravishan De Silva and Rusanda Gamage who brought them back along with a great partnership between Dinura Kalupahana and Sharujan Shanmuganathan. He further appreciates Kalupahana for his knock and credits his inning for the victory.

Matthew Schonken, the captain of Zimbabwe Under-19, says they wanted to win from where they were at the start of the match taking those three wickets but slipped a little bit in the middle overs with the fielding and the bowlers not being on the mark. He then says with 204 on the board they were sure of chasing it but with rain coming in and with the changes in the target they got a bit unlucky. He further says they will need to assess the conditions better as they knew it would rain and had to get the run rate up a bit.

Dinura Kalupahana is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his all-round brilliance. He says his mentality stays positive and brings out the best out of him. He further says that Zimbabwean bowlers bowled well but he kept things simple and played positively. He talks about his bowling and says he wanted to do well on this surface.

Time for the presentation ceremony...

Earlier in the game, after winning the toss and inserting Sri Lanka into bat, it proved to be a good decision from Matthew Schonken. Sri Lanka were off to a shaky start as they lost three wickets inside the first five overs. Ravishan De Silva and Rusanda Gamage then got together to steady the sinking ship. The two batters soaked up all the pressure and rode the tide to take the innings forward. Just as the two batters were starting to change gears, both departed in quick succession, which put Sri Lanka on the back foot once again. Dinura Kalupahana took the mantle of providing some much-needed momentum to the innings through his counter-attacking display of batting. He got to his fifty and found an able alley in Sharujan Shanmuganathan. After Dinura fell, Sharujan kept running out of partners and was left stranded on 41 as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 204. For Zimbabwe Under-19, Kohl Eksteen was the star with the ball with figures of 3 for 40 from his 10 overs.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe Under-19 kept Sri Lanka Under-19 in check for most parts during their bowling effort but faced stiff resistance from the Sri Lankan middle order, and had Matthew Schonken and his boys been sharper in the field, things would have been different for them. That said, they went into the halfway mark as the happier of the two sides but had the tough task of surviving the new ball. The Zimbabwean bowlers did a decent job of keeping the Sri Lankan pacers at bay and got their side off to a sedate start. However, as the spinners came on, Zimbabwe's struggles began as they lost three wickets in quick time before the rain interruption. Having lost that many wickets and not many runs on the board, Zimbabwe Under-19 were set a revised target of 129 runs from 22 overs. This left them with no option to go for the big shots from the first ball and they kept losing batters one after the other. In the end, it proved to be a bridge too far for Zimbabwe Under-19.

Sri Lanka Under-19 get their campaign underway in the 2024 Under-19 World Cup with a hard-fought victory! They were made to work hard for the two points from Zimbabwe Under-19 and Sineth Jayawardene will be pleased with the character shown by his boys. Having failed to bat the full quota of 50 overs, Sri Lanka needed to start well with the ball and so they did. Garuka Sanketh and Dinura Kalupahana kept things quiet right from the start. It was Vishwa Lahiru who provided the first breakthrough before his spin bowling partner, Malsha Tharupathi accounted for the other opener. Just before the rain break, the star with bat, Dinura Kalupahana struck to pile more misery on Zimbabwe Under-19. After the resumption, Sineth Jayawardene employed his spinners to make life even more difficult for the Zimbabwean batters and they did not let him down as they kept striking at regular intervals. Towards the end, Garuka Sanketh and Ruvishan Perera combined to seal the deal for Sri Lanka Under-19 for a 39-run win by D/L method.

OUT! CLEANED HIM UP! An outstanding yorker from Garuka Sanketh to wrap up the win for Sri Lanka Under-19! Pitches this full and tails it into the stumps. Matthew Schonken tries to whack it on the on side but fails to make the connection. The ball thuds into the leg stump to finish things off. Sri Lanka Under-19 win by 39 runs by the DLS method and are off the mark in the 2024 Under-19 World Cup.

Anesu Kamuriwo is the last batter for Zimbabwe Under-19.

OUT! EDGED AND GONE! Two in two for Ruvishan Perera as Sri Lanka Under-19 inch closer to the victory! Ruvishan Perera bowls a peach of a delivery to get Ryan Simbi walking. Pitches this short outside off and hits the deck hard. The ball shoots off the deck. Ryan Simbi gets beaten by the extra bounce while he hops and tries to let the ball go. In the process, he gets a thick outside edge to the keeper, Sharujan Shanmuganathan who reverse cups the catch.

Ryan Simbi comes in at number 10.

OUT! CAUGHT! Ruvishan Perera pitches this one a touch fuller and outside off. Brendon Sunguro stays back in the crease and extends his arm to get to the ball swiping it up and over to deep mid-wicket. Dinura Kalupahana does well to get to the ball and catches it to his right with a tumble at the end.

Digs it short and over the stumps, Brendon Sunguro tries to get innovative and shuffles across to flick it over fine leg. He makes no connection and the ball goes past to the keeper.

Short of a length again, on off, Matthew Schonken makes room and punches it out to extra cover for a single. Singles won't help Zimbabwe Under-19's case here.

Back of a length, outside off, Matthew Schonken backs away to slap it up and over point but misses out on the connection.

Drops the length short and outside off, Brendon Sunguro tries to pull it square on the on side but miscues it to third man for one.

Who will bowl the penultimate over? It will be Ruvishan Perera. Zimbabwe Under-19 need 42 runs from the last two overs.

Fuller and outside off with no pace, Matthew Schonken stands in the crease and lets the ball go to the keeper.

A perfect yorker that! Sanketh bowls this fast and into the legs, Brendon Sunguro goes away from the line trying to tuck it on off but fails to get any bat. The ball hits his toe and runs down to left of the keeper. The batters scamper through for a single and its called as Leg byes.