Pakistan U-19s lost the fifth ODI to Sri Lanka U-19s by 7-wicket. Pakistan has won 5-ODI limited overs series by 4-1.
Sri Lanka Under-19s gain consolation win
COLOMBO: As is customary with most ‘dead’ rubbers, where one team gains a consolation win after having lost all previous matches, the Sri Lanka Under-19s defeated Pakistan Under-19s by seven wickets here at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium on Tuesday in the last match of the five-game limited-over cricket series. The Pakistanis, however, clinched the issue with a 4-1 advantage.
After being put into bat, the Pakistan Under-19s scored 183 all out in 37.4 overs. The match was reduced to 38 overs a side due to interruption by rain and Sri Lanka, set a revised target of 191 runs from their 38 overs, got home with only three wickets down and nine balls to spare.
The home team batted in a professional manner, left-handed opener Upul Tharanga making 55 off 73 balls with four fours and a six as Sri Lanka reached 96 for three. Kaushal Silva and skipper Mohamed Maharoof then hammered 95 runs for the unbroken fourth-wicket stand off 17.5 overs and took Sri Lanka to victory without being separated.
On their tour of Sri Lanka, the Pakistan Under-19s saw two of their matches, one played over four and the other over a three-day period, ending as drawn. The two-day opening fixture had to be abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain. The visitors won all the first four limited-over matches before losing the last one yesterday.
Rain hit the proceedings in the fourth as well as fifth one-dayers, both played at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium here in Colombo, and the results were achieved through the Duckworth/Lewis Method for rain-interrupted matches.
On Tuesday, the Pakistan Under-19s were down to 68 for five in the 23rd over, mainly through the efforts of fast-medium bowler Dasun Kottehewa who was playing for the first time in the series. He eventually finished with figures of 3-48 from his eight overs. Nilakshan Soysa, another newcomer who bowls fast stuff, and the off-spinning vice-captain Ganganath Ratnayake also captured three wickets apiece.
The Pakistanis were lifted by a sixth-wicket stand of 49 between Salman Qadir, who hit 43 off 45 balls with two fours and a six, :k: and Mohammad Altaf, who scored a run-a-ball 22 with a solitary boundary. Later, pace bowler Riaz Afridi used the long handle to good effect, his 34 coming off just 18 balls with two fours and three sixes.
In the Sri Lanka innings, Kaushal Silva scored his unbeaten 63 off 80 deliveries with six boundaries while Maharoof’s 44 not out came off 48 balls with a six and a four. Riaz Afridi took his series haul to 11 wickets at 13.00 each with a best of 5-29 and was declared joint Man of the Series.
Sharing the award with him was Lahore’s 16-year-old Jahangir Mirza who, in five matches, totalled 184 runs at an average of 61.33. These included two unbeaten knocks of 73 and 89. In addition, Jahangir held four catches in the field and, with his off-breaks, took five wickets at 16.60 each with a best of 4-24.
Sri Lanka Under-19s won toss
Pakistan Under-19s**
*Khalid Latif c Perera b Kottehewa 26
Nasir Jamshed c Ratnayake b Maharoof 7
Jahangir Mirza c Tharanga b Kottehewa 10
Shahid Yousuf lbw b Kottehewa 9
Shahid Siddiq c Masmulla b Soysa 4
Salman Qadir b Ratnayake 43
Mohammad Altaf c de Silva b Soysa 22
†Naeem Ahmed c Ratnayake b Soysa 9
Riaz Afridi c Soysa b Ratnayake 34
Adeel Malik c de Silva b Ratnayake 3
Hidayatullah Khan not out 1
Extras (b5, lb1, w7, nb2) 15
Total (all out, 37.4 overs) 183
Fall: 1-11, 2-31, 3-44, 4-55, 5-68, 6-117, 7-128, 8-163, 9-178
Bowling: Maharoof 8-2-36-1 (2nb, 2w); Chanaka 7-2-14-0 (3w); Kottehewa 8-0-48-3 (1w); Soysa 8-0-40-3; Ratnayake 5.4-0-29-3 (1w); Navela 1-0-10-0
W U Tharanga lbw b Hidayatullah 55**
T S M Masmulla lbw b Riaz Afridi 8
N P Navela c Naeem Ahmed b Altaf 8
**J K Silva not out 63 :k:
M F Maharoof not out 44*
Extras (lb4, w8, nb1) 13
Total (3 wkts, 36.3 overs) 191
Did not bat: R W M G A Ratnayake, +G T de Silva, P U M Chanaka, M A I M Perera, D T Kottehewa, S Soysa
Fall: 1-15, 2-38, 3-96
Bowling: Riaz Afridi 7.3-1-29-1 (3w); Adeel Malik 2-0-22-0; Mohammad Altaf 3-0-27-1 (1nb, 1w); Salman Qadir 8-0-34-0 (2w); Shahid Yousuf 3-0-18-0 (1w); Hidayatullah Khan 8-0-38-1 (1w); Jahangir Mirza 5-0-19-0
**Result: Sri Lanka Under-19s won by 7 wickets (D/L method) but Pakistan Under-19s took the 5-match one-day series 4-1
Man of the Match: Kaushal Silva
Man of the Series: Jahangir Mirza and Riaz Afridi**
Umpires: A H T W K Ariyawickrama and W Jayasena
…and that’s ends the official tour of Pakistan-U19s to Sri Lanka. The tour was ‘Successful’ overall. Three-dayer match series hardly took place as the series was washed out by rain. In the ODI series, Pakistan U-19s dominated totally, both in the batting and bowling department. Jahangir Mirza, Riaz Afridi, Shahid Yousuf and Salman Qadir are the names who can make their way into the Pakistan Sr. team sometime around 5-6 years from now. These players will be Pakistan’s future talent.
Good on Aaqib Javed. He has been good with his job, definitely, the U-19 bowlers have done their job on this tour. :k:
Jahangir Mirza(Batsman) and Riaz Afridi(Bowler) from Pakistan-U19s shared the Man of the Series Award. 
:jhanda: :jhanda: :jhanda:
:k: