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India beat Sri Lanka by 56 runs to enter the Super League semi-final of the Under-19 World Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, today.
Batting first, Indian amassed a huge 316 for 5. Sri Lanka, despite a brave batting effort, could only muster 260 and were shot out in the 46th over.
Earlier, electing to bat, India lost opener Robin Uthappa early, caught by Kosela Kulasekara off Manoj Chanaka's bowling for nine in the fourth over.
Chanaka then dealt India two more blows, scalping Rakesh Solanki (9) and skipper Ambati T Rayudu (1), who tried an ambitious pull shot only to see the ball come off his gloves on to his stumps.
The other opener Shikhar Dhawan then combined with all-rounder Suresh Raina to knit a useful fourth wicket partnership of 134 runs off 173 deliveries to give the Indians the upper hand in the contest.
Raina made a useful half-century (54) before being dismissed by Lankan skipper Farveez Maharoof, caught by wicket-keeper Trevor De Silva, in the 37th over.
After that Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik launched into the Sri Lankan bowlers. Dhawan, who reached his third century of the tournament, combined with Karthik in an aggressive fifth wicket partnership of 115 runs off a mere 65 balls as fours and sixes rained all over the ground. The Indians put on 122 runs off the last 10 overs.
Dhawan made a classy 146 off 136 balls with 19 fours and two sixes before he was run out by a direct hit from Sudheera De Zoysa in the 48th over. He was named the man of the match for his batting heroics, the third time he has been thus awarded in this tournament.
Karthik, who played a quickfire 70 spiked with six fours and four sixes off just 39 deliveries, remained unbeaten with Gaurav Dhiman, who made a quick 14 with a four and a six.
All the Sri Lankan bowlers were hammered by the Indians. Chanaka, who had strangled the Indians at the start with three quick wickets, also suffered in the slog overs, conceding 63 runs in his 10 overs.
Chasing a huge target, Sri Lankan opener Upul Tharanga got the innings off to a flier, thrashing the Indian opening bowlers Rudra Singh and Dhiman to all parts of the ground.
Dhiman came in for some harsh treatment from the left-hander, conceding 20 runs in his third over, as Sri Lanka reached 55 for no loss after just five overs. The opening bowler looked short of ideas as he was hit for 43 runs in his first three overs.
Tharanga completed his half-century off just 29 balls with eight fours and a six. After 10 overs, the score reached 82 for no loss.
Singh gave the Indians a vital breakthrough in the 11th over as he crashed through Tharanga's defences to peg back his middle stump.
Sri Lanka then lost another quick wicket as Kosela Kulasekara (15) offered left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta a simple return catch in the 14th over.
Rayudu brought himself on in the 23rd over and struck immediately, claiming the simple return catch of Gihan De Silva for 26.
The Lankan skipper Maharoof lasted just one ball, run out to a brilliant fielding effort from Raina. Gupta then took a brilliant catch off his own bowling to send back opener Harsha Vithana for 37.
Wickets continued to tumble as the Sri Lankans tried to keep up with the scoring rate. Ganganath Ratnayake became Rayudu's second victim, stumped by wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik for 24 in the 36th over.
Mohamed Suraj revived the Lankans a little by putting on 50 runs for the eight wicket with Jayan Silva before he was caught by Praful Waghela for 24 to give Gupta his third wicket.
Manoj Chanaka did not survive long, scoring just eight runs before falling to Raina, caught by Shikhar Dhawan. De Zoysa was the final batsman to fall in the 46th over via run out.
With this win, India now top Group 1 of the Super League and will face the loser of the Pakistan-England match that will be played tomorrow in the semi-final.
Rayudu, in his post-match press conference, however, said he would prefer to play Pakistan in the final. "We would like to play England in the semi-finals and then meet Pakistan in the final," he said with a huge smile.
Scorecard:
India Under-19:
AR Uthappa c Kulasekara b Chanaka 9
S Dhawan run out (de Zoysa) 146
R Solanki c Vithana b Chanaka 9
A Rayudu b Chanaka 1
S Raina c Silva b Maharoof 54
D Karthik not out 70
G Dhiman not out 14
Extras (lb:3, w:7, nb:3) 13
Total (for 5 wickets in 50 overs) 316
Did not bat: P Gupta, RP Singh, P Waghela, A Sharma.
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-37, 3-39, 4-174, 5-288.
Bowling: Maharoof 10-0-68-1, Chanaka 10-2-63-3, Kulasekara 8-1-48-0, Suraj 10-1-56-0, Ratnayake 8-0-50-0, De Zoysa 1-0-10-0, Vithana 3-0-20-0.
Sri Lanka Under-19:
U Tharanga b Singh 61
H Vithana c & b Gupta 37
K Kulasekara c & b Gupta 15
GT de Silva c & b Rayudu 26
F Maharoof run out (Raina/Karthik) 0
N Navela run out (Gupta/Rayudu) 20
R Ratnayake st Karthik b Rayudu 24
J Silva not out 28
M Suraj c Wahgela b Gupta 24
P Chanaka c Dhawan b Raina 8
R de Zoysa run out (Raina/Karthik) 0
Extras (b:4, lb:4, w:9) 17
Total (all out in 46 overs) 260
Fall of wickets: 1-83, 2-101, 3-142, 4-146, 5-158, 6-185, 7-201, 8-251, 9-260, 10-260.
Bowling: Dhiman 5-0-51-0, Singh 6-0-40-1, Raina 10-0-37-1, Gupta 8-0-25-3, Sharma 9-0-52-0, Rayudu 8-0-47-2.