Sri Lanka U19s cruise through to Asia Cup Final

COLOMBO (News 1st); It will be a Sri Lanka - India clash in the Under 19 Asia Cup Finals as Sri Lanka cruised through beating Pakistan in their Semi-Final on Thursday (30). The Lion cubs secured a 22 run victory against Pakistan in a nail-biting encounter in Dubai. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Sri Lanka Under-19s were all out for a paltry 147 runs in 44.5 overs. In reply chasing an easy target of 148, Pakistan batters were shell-shocked as they were bowled out for 125 runs in 49.3 overs. Off Spinner, Trevin Mathew gave Sri Lanka the glimpse of a resurrection right from the start bagging 4 wickets as he destroyed the Pakistani top order. It was a show of spinners as Skipper Dunith Wellalage bagged 3 wickets as well. Sri Lanka : 147 all out (44.5 overs) Yasiru Rodrigo 31*, Matheesha Pathirana 31 | Syed Zameer 4/32, A Khan 2/26, A Ali 2/27. Pakistan : 125 all out (49.3 overs) A Khan 36 | Trevin Mathew 4/14, Dunith Wellalage 3/31 v SL U19s 147. Sri Lanka won by 22 runs! Meanwhile, in the 2nd semi-final at Sharjah, India tasted sweet revenge as they got the better of reigning World Under 19 champions Bangladesh whom they met during the previous World Cup Final. India completely outclassed Bangladesh defeating the neighbours by a mammoth 103 runs. India scored 243 for the loss of 8 wickets, while the opponents were bowled out for a meagre 140 runs. Sri Lanka will play India in the final of the Under 19 Asia Cup Final on Friday (31). Previously  the group match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh was called off after one of the umpires tested positive for Covid-19 in Sharjah. Interestingly Pakistan defeated India in their group stage encounter.