A disciplined bowling effort by India colts helped them beat Sri Lanka by five runs in a low-scoring final match of the Under-19 quadrangular one-day cricket tournament Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
The Indian boys, who had topped the league stage, scored a modest 168 all out thanks to Akshdeep Nath's patient 55, who resurrected his side's innings from 37 for five in the 14th over after they were asked to bat.
The bowlers then defended the small total by skittling out the Sri Lankans for 163 with 3.1 overs to spare at the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy Cricket Stadium.
Pacers Sandeep Sharma (4/23) and Rush Kalaria (3/34) shared the bulk of the spoils while left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra and off-spinner Baba Aparajith chipped in with a wicket apiece.
Chasing 169 for a win, Sri Lanka made a disastrous start with opener Niroshan Dickwella falling to Sandeep in the third ball of their innings. Sandeep and Rush then ran through the Sri Lankan top-order as the visitors were reduced to 27 for five in the ninth over.
Duleeka Thissakuttige and Lahiru Madushanka who top-scored with 63 -- then stitched a 75-run stand for the sixth wicket from 22.1 overs to take Sri Lanka closer to target before the former was out at team total of 102 for six in the 31st over.
Another wicket fell in the form of Pulina Tharanga and Sri Lanka were reduced to 150 for eight soon after. The visitors had enough overs in their hands but they kept losing wickets.
Sandeep polished off the tail by scalping the last two wickets -- that of Apila Aponso and Dilshan Dhanushka in the space of three balls as India won the summit clash and the tournament.
Earlier, put into bat, India suffered a batting collapse as they slumped to 37 for five before Smit Patel (31) and Nath (55) revived the innings with a 67-run stand for the sixth wicket from 22.2 overs.
Nath was out in the 46th over at the team score of 146 for eight. He hit five fours and a six from 82 balls he faced.
The Indian top-order collapsed under tight Sri Lankan bowling as captain Unmukt Chand (14), Manan Vohra (2), Hanuman Vihari (15), Kumar Deobrat (2) and Baba Aparajith (0) were out cheaply.
For Sri Lanka, Lahiru Madushanka took four wickets for 17 runs while Amila Aponso scalped two Indian batsmen.
In the third place play-off today, West Indies beat Australia by 16 runs.
Scoreboard:
India U-19
U Chand run out 14
M Vohra c Jayasinghe b De Mel 2
H Vihari c Fernando b Madushanka 15
K Deobrat lbw Dhanushka 2
B Aparajith c Dickwella b Madushanka 0
A Nath c Fernando b Aponso 55
S Patel c Dickwella b Madushanka 31
R Kalaria c Kaushal b Madushanka 4
H Singh c Thissakuttige b Aponso 23
S Sharma not out 8
V Mishra run out 5
Extras: 9 (b-2, lb-3, w-2, nb-2)
Total: 168 (50 overs; 216 mins)
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-32, 3-35, 4-37, 5-37, 6-104, 7-110, 8-146, 9-156.
Bowling: De Mel 10-0-36-1, Dhanushka 10-1-32-1, Madushanka 10-1-17-4, Aponso 10-1-40-2, Kaushal 10-0-38-0.
Sri Lanka Under-19s
N Dickwella c Mishra b Sharma 0
SI Fernando c Patel b Kalaria 8
D Thissakuttige c Deobrat b Aparajith 29
A Jayasinghe lbw Sharma 0
D Weerakkody lbw Kalaria 10
P Kaushal run out 0
L Madushanka c & b Kalaria 63
D Tharanga c Patel b Mishra 15
M Aponso c Chand b Sharma 21
VS de Mel not out 5
D Dhanushka b Sharma 0
Extras: 12 (lb-1, w-10, nb-1)
Total: 163 (46.5 overs)
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-9, 3-10, 4-26, 5-27, 6-102, 7-122, 8-150, 9-162.
Bowling: Sharma 9.5-0-23-4, Kalaria 8-1-34-3, B Aparajith 10-0-31-1, Harmeet 9-0-32-0, Mishra 10-0-42-1.
