Sri Lanka U-19s reach knock-out stage for first time since 2016
Unbeaten Sri Lanka entered the Super League stage of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, currently underway in the West Indies, after topping Group ‘D’ in three games. Sri Lanka juniors beat Scotland by 7 wickets in their opening group game Friday last week, before beating Australia by 4 wickets three days later.
On Friday (21), Sri Lanka defeated hosts West Indies by 3 wickets to top Group ‘D’ and set up a Super League quarter-final clash against Group ‘C’ runners-up, which could be either Zimbabwe or Afghanistan, next Thursday at Antigua. Sri Lanka is the second team to reach the Super League stage, which is in contention for the main title.
England easily advanced to the Super League stage unbeaten after three games from Group ‘A’ with the other team to reach that stage still wide open between Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates.
India and South Africa are guaranteed with Super League slots but with a game left the final standings of the two teams are yet to be determined from Group ‘B’. Pakistan too has a guaranteed slot from Group ‘C’ with a game remaining against minnows Papua New Guinea. The winner of the remaining group match between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan will decide the team that advances to the Super League and meet Sri Lanka in the knockouts.
Alongside Sri Lanka, Australia has reached the Super League as group runners-up and will most likely meet Pakistan next Friday in the knockouts. If Sri Lanka wins against their against opponents next Thursday in the second qualifier, they will reach the Super League semi-finals. They will meet the winner of the first quarter-final game between England and their opponent — India or South Africa. If Sri Lanka fails to advance further towards the Cup, they will be listed to play the losers of the first quarter-final in the playoffs that will determine the teams that plays for the fifth and seventh places.
On Friday Sri Lanka raked up their third win to remain unbeaten from the group stage, after recording a thrilling 3-wicket win against Australia at Basseterre, with skipper Dunith Wellalage claiming three wickets and Sadisha Rajapaksa hitting 76. With 13 wickets to his tally in three games, Wellalage tops the bowler’ list of the tournament, inclusive of two five-wicket hauls and two man-of-the-match awards.
Meanwhile the ICC U-19 World Cup has been caused an unexpected turn after COVID-19 affected some teams that are in contention. The India U-19s is the worst affected side, as they lost five of their top players including skipper Yash Dhull. Indian authorities have brought in five fresh replacements.
Host West Indies too had two positive cases, despite playing against Sri Lanka. The other team to be affected was Zimbabwe, who had four players tested positive. According to ICC officials there are provisions at the U-19 World Cup for fixtures to either be postponed or relocated in case of COVID-19 positives and necessary action will be taken.