Sri Lanka U20 National Discussions

[MOD-wmchamps]

Please welcome suki09 to the U20 management team.

It will be their first involvement in the national scene so we hope that they find it a good experience.

[MOD-wmchamps]

Tour Dates 23 Dec 2024 - 27 Dec 2024
Hosting Rights Won By Bermuda
Hosting Country South Africa
First Preferred Pitch Crumbling
Second Preferred Pitch Dry
Third Preferred Pitch Sticky

Please head on to our discord for squad selection discussion.

Let us know if anyone needs access to the discord.

[MOD-wmchamps]

First ODI tour is now upon us, as we head to South Africa where Bermuda are hosting the tour.
Selected squad is as follows:

Batters

Ukkuwa Maithripala (11 caps) Ball Busters
Salinda Piyadigama (4 caps) Ginger Devils
Arjuna Yapa (U20 Debut) Lesvosace CC
Sarath Amarakoon (U20 Debut) Northern Rivers
Chandraratna Dilruk (U20 Debut) The Bloodhounds
Chamal Jiffry (U20 Debut) Albino Lion Cubs
Rajavarothiam Zilva (U20 Debut) tanmay3011

Keepers

Arundika Hameen (3 caps) Almost
Jayalath Kaushal (U20 Debut) Locked on Lads

All-Rounders and Bowlers

Maithripala Jayatilleke RFS (U20 Debut) SBClub
Salinda Jayarange LFS (U20 Debut) Albino Lion Cubs
Shantha Lankatilleke LFS (U20 Debut) Miss Lanka's Pet Lions
Nirmala Ambalangodage RWS (U20 Debut) Sitakunda Leopards
Bayya Jeewantha RWS (U20 Debut) Ella XI
Susantha Cafoor RM (U20 Debut) Lesvosace CC
Niroshan Rifan LM (U20 Debut) Castle Rock CC
Priya Isham RFM (U20 Debut) Aklavik XI
Jayantha Fonseka RF (3 caps) Albino Lion Cubs

Pitches

23 Dec vs England U20: Dry
24 Dec vs Canada U20: Crumbling
25 Dec vs Bermuda U20: Dry
26 Dec vs Kenya U20: Crumbling
27 Dec vs Australia U20: Dry

Matches will start at 08:00 FTP time so be sure to watch and support us.

[MOD-wmchamps]

Game 1 vs England U20 in Dry/Cloudy conditions

We won the toss and went in to bat first, our openers made a slow but steady start with a 91 run partnership that lasted almost 20 overs.
Our top order had all gotten starts but they could not up the run rate which later proved to be our undoing, as our middle order could not accelerate even in the death overs and it was only a quick unbeaten 20 off 13 balls from AR Susantha Cafoor that got us to 237/5, a total that looked below par, as Arjuna Yapa top scored with 58 and Arundika Hameen scored an unbeaten 52 not out.

England U20 raced out of the blocks and even an early wicket for us did not deter them. We did eventually slow their RR down a little bit towards the drinks break and after as our bowlers tried their best to defend the target, but even a couple of wobbles for the English did not stop them from eventually scampering over the line for a 3 wicket win.
All bowlers picked up a wicket each and Bayya Jeewantha got 2 wickets and was also our pick of the bowlers.

My Player of the Day goes to Jeewantha as well for his bowling effort, as his 2 wickets opened the door to a possible fightback which did not come in the end.

Match Ratings
Sri Lanka U20 England U20
Batting - Top Order 9,827 9,507
Batting - Middle Order 8,656 9,212
Batting - Tail 3,971 4,744
Bowling - Seam 9,580 (20) 10,474 (20)
Bowling - Spin 9,733 (30) 10,657 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 11,008 10,983
Overall 167,233 174,980

Canada U20 is up next so we go again.

[MOD-wmchamps]

Game 2 vs Canada U20 in Crumbling/Windy conditions

Once again we won the toss and opted to bat first where once again our openers had a slow and steady start.
Unlike yesterday though the middle order gave us some acceleration and some late blows got us to 262/4.
Ukkuwa Maithripala top scored with an unbeaten 88 off just 91 balls.

Our bowling started really well with 2 wickets in the powerplay and we had them in all sorts of trouble at 70/4, but then their middle and lower orders got them back into the game by not just forming partnerships but also by keeping the RRR in check, and they really got loose in the death overs by first seeing off our OBB and targeting those on the other end, eventually getting to where they needed just 14 in the last over, but fortunately Priya Isham eventually held his nerve to get us a very narrow 2 run win.

Pick of the bowlers and my Player of the Day is Shantha Lankatilleke for his figures of 10-1-43-4.

Match Ratings
Canada U20 Sri Lanka U20
Batting - Top Order 9,365 9,448
Batting - Middle Order 9,368 8,332
Batting - Tail 4,657 5,196
Bowling - Seam 9,174 (10) 8,679 (20)
Bowling - Spin 9,696 (40) 9,562 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 10,070 10,270
Overall 167,074 163,564

[MOD-wmchamps]

Game 3 vs Bermuda U20 in Dry/Cloudy conditions.

Won the toss and batted first again but this time our openers gave us a faster start with a 72 run partnership in just 12 overs.
Opposition really tightened the screws after that though and it was only thanks to our Finisher Sarath Amarakoon who guided us to 215/8 by scoring an unbeaten 50 and was also our top scorer.

Once again bowlers gave us a good start by getting 2 wickets in the powerplay and at 141/8 most people would have thought that's the game for us, but what can only be described as ridiculous happened and a 63 run partnership followed for the 9th wicket along with them keeping the RRR in check. We did get the 9th wicket but then witnessed 2 missed runouts in quick succession and somehow we ended up losing by 1 wicket.

Pick of the bowlers and my Player of the Day is Nirmala Ambalangodage for his figures of 10-1-44-5.

Match Ratings
Sri Lanka U20 Bermuda U20
Batting - Top Order 9,533 9,657
Batting - Middle Order 8,109 9,206
Batting - Tail 4,067 4,849
Bowling - Seam 9,523 (20) 9,399 (20)
Bowling - Spin 9,971 (30) 10,537 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 10,181 10,719
Overall 162,277 172,570

We are now 5th on the table due to NRR and need a big win tomorrow against Kenya U20.

[MOD-wmchamps]

Game 4 vs Kenya U20 in Crumbling/Sunny conditions.

We won the toss and batted first, lost an early wicket but most of our batters got starts and pushed us to 271/6 with some good partnerships along the way. Arundika Hameen top scored with 75 at a strike rate of 100.

They got a quick start with the bat but then lost 6 wickets in the next 6 overs to put us in a commanding position. They had a 44 run partnership for the final wicket but we still managed a dominant and NRR saving 151 run win. All the bowlers kept things really tight with ERs of max 3.75, with Fonseka and Jayarange the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets each.

Player of the Match and my Player of the Day goes to Arundika Hameen for his 75 runs and 5 catches.

Match Ratings
Sri Lanka U20 Kenya U20
Batting - Top Order 9,659 10,280
Batting - Middle Order 8,262 7,918
Batting - Tail 4,076 4,216
Bowling - Seam 8,593 (20) 8,494 (20)
Bowling - Spin 9,276 (30) 10,006 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 10,575 10,525
Overall 160,655 164,028

Final game is against the ODI WC champs Australia U20 where we need a win to confirm our spot in Division 1.

[MOD-wmchamps]

Final game vs the defending ODI WC champs Australia U20 on Dry/Sunny conditions.

Lost a few early wickets which meant we were behind the 8-ball at the start but we did get a decent finish at the end and finished with 247/8, which was a competitive score but required a great bowling performance to defend it.
Captain Maithripala top scored with 66.

We also managed a few early wickets and the game was in a similar position after the Aussies lost their 4th wicket, but a 111 run partnership for the 5th wicket took the game away from us and even 3 late wickets by OBB did not stop them from winning the game by 3 wickets and clinching the Division 1 title after going unbeaten.

Pick of the bowlers and my Player of the Day was Shantha Lankatilleke for his 4 wickets.

Match Ratings
Australia U20 Sri Lanka U20
Batting - Top Order 9,710 9,034
Batting - Middle Order 8,552 8,332
Batting - Tail 4,277 3,918
Bowling - Seam 9,629 (20) 9,340 (20)
Bowling - Spin 10,756 (30) 9,623 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 11,135 10,165
Overall 170,812 159,266

We finished on 8 points but fortunately our good NRR meant we ended up in 3rd place and managed to stay in Division 1.

Focus shifts to the T20s now with the goal being to get out of Division 3.

[MuslimDave]

That Bermuda game was soo unlucky, luckily it didn’t cost you relegation.

Good luck for the T20 tour

[MOD-wmchamps]

We were fortunate that all 3 of our losses were by close margins so the good win vs Kenya U20 helped our NRR.

Good luck to you as well on the T20 tour

[paulc]

Third place off 8 points is a pretty good return.
Enjoying these write ups.

[MOD-wmchamps]

Thanks for the support.

Next up is the T20 tour, where the bid was won by India and they have gone with:

Tour Dates: 13 Jan 2025 - 17 Jan 2025
First Preferred Pitch: Slow
Second Preferred Pitch: Even
Third Preferred Pitch : Flat

[MOD-wmchamps]

T20 tour is now upon us, as we head to neighbors India in hopes of earning promotion.
Selected squad is as follows:

Batters

Outtadaa Mittaldabatt (U20 Debut) waityesno_sorrymate
Salinda Piyadigama (T20I Debut) Ginger Devils
Arjuna Yapa (T20I Debut) Lesvosace CC
Sarath Amarakoon (T20I Debut) Northern Rivers
Chandraratna Dilruk (T20I Debut) The Bloodhounds
Lalith Sivakumar (U20 Debut) Albino Lion Cubs
Chamal Jiffry (T20I Debut) Albino Lion Cubs

Keepers

Arundika Hameen (T20I Debut) Almost
Arjuna Rahman (U20 Debut) Easy Four Points

All-Rounders and Bowlers

Maithripala Jayatilleke RFS (T20I Debut) SBClub
Salinda Jayarange LFS (T20I Debut) Albino Lion Cubs
Nirmala Ambalangodage RWS (T20I Debut) Sitakunda Leopards
Bayya Jeewantha RWS (T20I Debut) Ella XI
Susantha Cafoor RM (T20I Debut) Lesvosace CC
Jeewan Jayampathi RM (U20 Debut) Measham Bears
Lanka Dandeniya LM (U20 Debut) Marauders XI
Niroshan Rifan LM (T20I Debut) Castle Rock CC
Jayantha Fonseka RF (T20I Debut) Albino Lion Cubs

Pitches

13 Jan vs South Africa U20: Slow
14 Jan vs Netherlands U20: Slow
15 Jan vs Scotland U20: Slow
16 Jan vs Ireland U20: Even
17 Jan vs India U20: Slow

Matches will start at 04:30 FTP time so be sure to watch and support us.

[MOD-wmchamps]

Game 1 of the T20 tour was played against South Africa U20 in Slow/Overcast conditions.

We managed an early wicket but overall wickets were hard to come as we could only manage to pick up two further wickets. Despite this we somehow still managed to keep things tight and restricted them to 124/3. Our 3 mediums all picked up a wicket each and overall our bowlers did their job well so I cannot pick a standout.

In reply we lost 3 early wickets, slipping to 14/3 in 4 overs, and then we got a couple of 40-odd run partnerships to get us home for a 5 wicket win.
Lalith Sivakumar top scored with 60 with key contribution from Jayantha Fonseka who scored 32 not out off just 29 balls.

It was a good team performance which is why I cannot pick out a Player of the Day.

Match Ratings
South Africa U20 Sri Lanka U20
Batting - Top Order 9,947 9,642
Batting - Middle Order 8,187 7,741
Batting - Tail 5,114 5,578
Bowling - Seam 9,657 (12) 9,491 (16)
Bowling - Spin 9,251 (8) 10,273 (4)
Fielding/Keeping 10,968 10,880
Overall 168,257 167,146

[MOD-wmchamps]

Game 2 vs the Netherlands had us playing in Slow/Windy conditions.

The Dutch won the toss and went to bat first.

They saw off our opening seam bowlers but then came the Jayatilleke and Jeewantha show as both spinners applied the squeeze and kept things tight along with getting regular wickets. Jayatilleke picked up 4 wickets and is also our Player of the Day while Jeewantha got 2 wickets and it meant that the Dutch could only get 115/6.

We had a quick start to our chase and despite losing 2 wickets in the PP we still scored 42 in that period. Opener Middaldabatt and middle order batter Piyadagama then shared a 63 run partnership and saw us home despite losing 2 more wickets, for a 6 wicket win which sees us on 8 points and joint-first place.

Match Ratings
Netherlands U20 Sri Lanka U20
Batting - Top Order 9,739 9,397
Batting - Middle Order 7,075 8,096
Batting - Tail 4,132 3,663
Bowling - Seam 8,721 (12) 9,194 (8)
Bowling - Spin 10,510 (8) 10,263 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 10,618 11,438
Overall 158,689 164,458