There were three matches held across the Caribbean in the ICC U-19 World Cup 2022 on January 17, where Sri Lanka, West Indies and Pakistan came out triumphant over Australia, Scotland and Zimbabwe, respectively.
In the match played in Group D between Australia and Sri Lanka, the Island nation continued their winning run in the competition, having earlier toppled off Scotland. In a low-scoring fixture, Sri Lanka U19 defeated their Aussie counterparts by four wickets in St Kitts.
Bowling first after winning the toss, Sri Lanka bundled out Australia for just 175, thanks largely to a spectacular five-fer (5/28) by their skipper and left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage. Treveen Mathew (2/32) and Matheesha Pathirana (2/34) also picked up two wickets apiece.
Dunith Wellalage!
— Sakun (@Sakun_SD) January 17, 2022
5 for 28 followed by a valuable half century against Australia!
His bowling changes and field settings were brilliant too.
Unarguably the best performance by a Sri Lankan U19 cricketer in #U19CWC history. pic.twitter.com/fcajMYwF1s
Australia had opener Campbell Kellaway (54) scoring a watchful fifty, but the rest of the batting unit simply failed to stand-up to some quality Sri Lankan bowling. The Lankans also had their own stutters with the bat but eventually reached the target six wickets down in 37 overs.
Backing his exploits with the ball with a measured fifty (52), Wellalage led from the front. Anjala Bandara (33) and Ranuda Somarathne (32) contributed useful thirties to the cause.
Tom Whitney (2/39) and Joshua Garner (2/21) were the pick of the bowlers for the Australians, who lacked a good enough total on the board.
In the other Group D encounter, West Indies had a field day against European associates Scotland, who were dismissed for just 95 by the hosts in their comprehensive seven-wicket win.
The Scottish side lost the toss and were asked to bat first, a scenario they didn’t seem to take a liking to as only one of their batters – Oliver Davidson (43) – could withstand some quality bowling from the West Indies. Davidson finished as the only batter from the line-up to make it past the 20-mark in what was an embarrassing scorecard.
The hosts will be pleased that it wasn’t a one-man show and that they had a collective performance with the ball. Shiva Sankar (3/17), Onaje Amory (2/26) and Anderson Mahase (2/16) were their stand-out bowlers.
With the match in the bag at the halfway mark, West Indies, who had lost to Australia in their opening game, focused on reaching the target as quickly as they could and take the net run-rate high. They nearly achieved that goal, finishing the innings in 19.4 overs at the loss of three wickets.
Shaqkere Parris (26) and Teddy Bishop (23*) made twenties in the second half where captain Charlie Peet (1/15) bowled quite well for Scotland.
The last game of the day was also a one-sided affair, in which Pakistan ruthlessly won over Zimbabwe in Diego Martin. The Asian giants posted a gigantic total of 315/9 before winning the game by a huge margin of 115 runs.
Zimbabwe made the decision to bowl first after winning the toss, which they would have regretted when Pakistan batters led by wicketkeeper-batter Haseebullah Khan (135) took control of the proceedings. Middle-order batter Irfan Khan also batted in strong command for his 75.
Pakistan continued their domination in the second half, where Awais Ali picked up six wickets for just 56 runs to help dismiss the opposition for only 200 runs. Zeeshan Zameer (2/32) and Ahmed Khan (2/40) also took two wickets each.
For Zimbabwe, their only real positives were Alex Falao and Brian Bennett. While Falao bagged a five-fer (5/58), Bennett played a fighting knock of 83 to give his team a slim chance.
