Sri Lanka U19 overcame their painful defeat against Afghanistan U19 in the tournament quarterfinals with a win over South Africa in the Super League playoff semifinal on January 30 in the ICC U19 World Cup 2022.
The Lankan U-19 won against their African counterparts by a comfortable margin of 65 runs after posting a less-than-ideal but a competitive score of 232 for six in the first half. The young Proteas batting unit failed to last more than 38 overs and collapsed to 167 all out in Antigua.
Sri Lankan skipper Dunith Wellalage was once again his team’s stand-out performer as he struck a fantastic hundred (113) in the first half. Walking in with his team 87/4, he took them past the 230-mark. The batter was involved in a pivotal stand of 130 runs for the fifth wicket with Ranuda Somarathne (57).
Wellalage backed his batting exploits with a tight six-over spell of one for 29 in the second half and played his part in ensuring the South Africans crumbled in their run-chase. Sri Lanka also had Treveen Mathew (2/41), Shevon Daniel (2/28) and Raveen de Silva (2/14) taking two wickets apiece.
South Africans’ heavy dependence on their star batter Dewald Brevis was exposed brutally on the day. Brevis got out for just six, which meant extra pressure on the rest of the batting unit to deliver the goods. But they failed to come to the party.
Opener Ronan Hermann (34) and No.4 Gerhardus Maree, top-scored with a 44, were the only noteworthy contributors.
In the other fixture of the World Cup played for the 13th place playoff, Uganda continued to impress in the competition with a win over the more-fancied Scotland side at the Diego Martin Sporting Complex.
Uganda U19s posted a fighting score of 226 in the first half, thanks to a pair of impressive contributions from Ronald Lutaaya (64) and skipper Pascal Murungi (49). This, before they also found bowling heroes in the second half in Juma Miyaji (4/25) and Christopher Kidega (3/23).
