da bwin： Sri Lanka claimed a two-wicket win in the third Under-19 Test at Worcesterand took the series 2-1, having lost the first Test
John Stern31-Aug-2000Sri Lanka claimed a two-wicket win in the third Under-19 Test at Worcesterand took the series 2-1, having lost the first Test.They began the day needing 52 more runs to win with five wickets in hand andlost the crucial wicket of opener Ian Daniels early on when he had his offstumped removed by Tim Murtagh.But Malintha Gajanayake and skipper Kaushalya Weeraratne took their side tothe brink of victory with an excellent partnership of 37 for the seventhwicket.With only five runs needed for victory, Essex left-armer Justin Bishop, whotook seven for 42 in the first innings, struck twice in two balls to putEngland right back in the hunt.First he had Weeraratne caught behind and then Ranil Dhammika was wellcaught low at first slip by Nicky Peng.New batsman Akalanka Ganegama, who took ten wickets in the match, scrambleda single before Gajanayake drove Bishop through the covers for the winningruns, which sparked a pitch invasion by the entire jubilant Sri Lankan side.It was the first series England had lost at under-19 level since 1996 whenthey were beaten 1-0 by New Zealand.England manager Tim Boon paid tribute to Sri Lanka’s bowlers, saying: “Theirseamers have bowled progressively better during the series and they bowled agreat line and length here.”It was a helter skelter game of cricket on an uneven pitch and I just hopethat our players take this experience on board and learn from it. That iswhat Under-19 cricket is all about.”