Sports
 

Farveez and Suraj send Windies crashing to defeat
By Marlon Fernandopulle
Sri Lanka Under 19 skipper Farveez Maharoof and off spinner Suraj Mohamed captured seven wickets between them to rout the West Indies Under 19 by nine wickets in the first one day game at the NCC grounds yesterday.

Batting first on a placid wicket the visiting West Indies youngsters were first troubled by the medium pace bowling of skipper Maharoof and later by the intelligent off spin of Suraj Mohamed. Maharoof trapped carribbean opener Xavier Marshall leg before wicket in his fourth ball as the visitors got off to an inauspicious start.

Despite Maharoofs partner Manoj Chanaka picking up another wicket the West Indies progressed steadily to 36 for 2 wickets in the first 15 overs. However with the introduction of off spinner Suraj Mohamed the West Indian innings began to fall apart. The schoolboy from Rahula Matara troubled the West Indian middle order with his off breaks as the visitors struggled to negotiate the spin of Mohamed. He throttled the middle order and together with Maharoof had the West Indians reeling at 84 for 9 wickets before tail ender Zamal Khan hit an unbeaten 42 off 40 balls which included five boundaries and a six to help the visitors to pass the three figure mark.

They were eventually bowled out for 106 in the 38th over. Apart from Khan only two other batsman Tishan Maraj and Jonathan Augustus reached double figures. Skipper Maharoof finished with 3 for 14 while Suraj Mohamed picked up 4 for 15.

Sri Lanka in reply lost opener Dumindu Kularatne with the total on 2 but his partner Upul Tharanga made a mockery of the West Indian attack. The left hander who also plays Premier Cricket for NCC was in swashbuckling form.

Batting in his own inimitable style he cracked a dozen boundaries in only 68 deliveries to make a top score of 75 as the Sri Lanka under 19 team reached the target in only the 22nd over to record a runaway nine wicket victory. Tharanga received good support from his number three batsman Nadeera Nawala who remained unbeaten on 26 and help put on an unbroken 106 runs for the second wicket.

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