Moratuwa: Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal struck an unbeaten hundred as India U-19 cruised to an eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka to win the five-match one day series 3-2 on Friday.
Batting first, India restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 212 for 9 in 50 overs after a collective effort from the Indian bowlers. The visitors then knocked off the runs in 42.4 overs, courtesy Jaiswal, who hit eight fours and three sixes. The team, coached by WV Raman, need to be lauded as they came back in the series after trailing 1-2. While bowling, it was Mohit Jangra, who had the best figures of 2 for 30 while all the others got a wicket apiece.
Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for 39 runs in a sudden middle-order collapse after looking good for a big score at 174 for 3. For the hosts, Madushka Fernando dropped anchor, scoring 95 off 136 balls with seven boundaries, before seamer Jangra trapped him leg before.
He added 101 runs for the third wicket with Keshawa Fernando (56). Once Keshawa was dismissed, Madhushka went into a shell and the Indian left-arm spinners Siddharth Desai (1/33) and Harsh Tyagi (1/43) dried up the runs. The chase was never a problem as Jaiswal, who was dropped for poor form, came back strongly, being promoted up the order.
Jaiswal looked solid at one end of three good partnerships – 71 for the opening stand with Devdutt Padikkal (38), 72 for the second wicket with Pawan Shah (36) and 69 for the unbroken third wicket stand with skipper Aryan Juyal (22). (PTI)
