SL beat Afghanistan to win U-19 Plate Championship

Sri Lanka defeated Afghanistan by seven wickets to win the Plate Championship final in the ICC Under-19 World Cup at Allan Border Field in Brisbane, on Friday.

Batting first after winning the toss, Afghanistan scored 194 for nine in 50 overs, with Mohibullah Paak top-scoring with a fine 44, which included five fours and a six.

For Sri Lanka, Lahiru Madushanka continued his fine form with the ball and finished with three for 34 while Amila Aponso took two for 19.

In its chase, Sri Lanka cruised to victory in 39 overs with player of the match Niroshan Dickwella hitting an elegant 76 and Pabasara Waduge contributing 33.

The two batsmen added 44 runs for the second wicket after Shehan Fernando (19) departed at the score of 42. For the third wicket with Angelo Jayasinghe (23), Dickwella added 56 runs.

This was Sri Lanka's first Plate Championship title, while it was an excellent achievement for Afghanistan, having finished 16th and last in its debut appearance two years ago in New Zealand.

Afghanistan captain Javed Ahmadi was as his side's most successful batsman with 285 runs at 47.50 while Sri Lanka's leading run-getter was Sandun Weerakkody with 189 runs.

On the bowlers' table, Sri Lanka's Madushanka finished with 15 wickets while Sayed Shirzad was the pick of the Afghanistan bowlers with 11 wickets.

In the fifth-sixth position play-off match, Sam Wood produced a fine all-round performance to help England defeat the West Indies by 13 runs.

Wood first hit a quickfire 104 off 111 balls, including four fours and seven sixes, to help England post 241 for nine and then picked two wickets for 52 runs as the West Indies were dismissed for 228 in 48.3 overs. He was later declared player of the match.

John Campbell led the West Indies run-chase with a gutsy 105 off 133 balls, including eight fours and two sixes. But when he departed at the score of 206, with 36 needed off the final 32 balls, the West Indies lost its way and fell 13 runs short.

England left-arm fast bowler Reece Topley was the pick of the bowlers with three for 39 to finish the tournament with 19 wickets.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh defeated Pakistan by five wickets to finish seventh. Bangladesh captain Amanul Haque stroked an electrifying 128 off 112 balls, including five fours and eight sixes, as Bangladesh reached the 236-run target with 22 balls and five wickets to spare.

It was Amanul's second century of the tournament, having scored 101 in the tournament opener against Sri Lanka. He finished the event with 365 runs from six matches, at an impressive average of 60.83.

While eighth position was Pakistan's worst finish in nine events, it was Bangladesh's second best finish after it ended up fifth in Sri Lanka in 2006. Bangladesh has also won two Plate Championship titles.

In the other match of the day, Scotland defeated Ireland by five wickets to finish 11th. Aman Bailwal (three for 38) and Ruaidhri Smith (three for 48) shared wickets as Ireland was bowled out for 182. Ross McLean (47), Nicholas Farrar (38 not out) and Mathew Cross (30) then made even contributions with the bat as Scotland achieved victory with 8.2 overs and five wickets to spare.

In the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010, Ireland had finished 10th while Scotland, which was participating after a gap of six years, had lost the Plate Championship quarter-final to South Africa in Sri Lanka in 2006.