Sri Lanka stun India in ICC U19 Cricket World Cup warm-up

Defending champions India suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the first round of warm-up matches of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup UAE 2014 on Monday.

Sri Lanka opener Sadeera Samarawickrama hit an attractive 82 and Priyamal Perera scored an unbeaten 50 to inspire their side to a five-wicket victory over defending champions India at Zayed Cricket Stadium, while Ryan Burl hit a fluent 60 as Zimbabwe defeated last event’s runner-up Australia by three wickets at Abu Dhabi Oval 1.

In the other matches of the day, two-time former champion Pakistan romped to a comfortable 10-wicket victory over hosts UAE at The Sevens, England trounced Scotland by 153 runs at ICC Academy 1, two-time losing finalist South Africa beat Namibia by five wickets at Abu Dhabi Oval 2, 1998 finalist New Zealand outgunned Canada by five wickets at Sharjah Cricket Stadium and 2004 finalist West Indies made short work of Afghanistan by nine wickets at ICC Academy 2.

Bangladesh, which has won the Plate Championship in 1998, 2004 and 2010, defeated Papua New Guinea by 165 runs. Bangladesh’s Yasir Ali was the star of his team when he scored a fine 64 that came off 67 balls in a knock that included two fours and two sixes.

In the India-Sri Lanka match, the reigning champions threw away a half-century opening wicket start to slump from 53-0 to 209 all out in 45.5 overs.

All the top order batsmen got off to good starts but couldn’t convert these into big scores with No.8 batsman Deepak Hooda finishing as the top scorer with 39.

Sri Lanka, in its chase, achieved victory with seven balls to spare after openers Samarawickrama and Hashan Dumindu (48) posted 125 runs.

Priyamal Perera then hit nine fours in an unbeaten 62-ball 50 to provide Sri Lanka a huge confidence-boosting victory.

On Wednesday, February 12, eight more warm-up matches will be played while the first round matches of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2014 will start on Friday February 14.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka beat India by 5 wickets at Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi: India 209, all out in 45.5 overs (Deepak Hooda 39, Shreyas Iyer 31; Binura Fernando 4-42) Sri Lanka 212-5, 48.5 overs (Sadeera Samarawickrama 82, Priyamal Perera 50 not out)

Zimbabwe beat Australia by 3 wickets at Abu Dhabi Oval 1: Australia 195, 46.1 overs (Jaron Morgan 36; Deven Bell 3-38) Zimbabwe 196-7, 48.3 overs (Ryan Burl 60)

Bangladesh best Papua New Guinea (PNG) by 165 runs at Dubai International Stadium: Bangladesh 281-9, 50 overs (Yasir Ali 64; Riley Hekure 3-50) PNG 116, 40.3 overs (Gaudi Toka 35)

West Indies beat Afghanistan by 9 wickets at ICC Academy 2: Afghanistan 84 all out, 39.4 overs (Jerome Jones 3-12, Ray Jordan 3-13) West Indies 85-1, 18.4 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 46 not out)

New Zealand beat Canada by 5 wickets at Sharjah Cricket Stadium: Canada 119 all out, 45.4 overs (Nikhil Dutta 40) New Zealand 120-5, 35.5 overs (Ken McClure 59 not out)

England beat Scotland by 153 runs at ICC Academy 1: England 281-4, 50 overs (Ben Duckett 92, Ryan Higgins 60, Jonathan Tattersall 48, Dominic Sibley 41) Scotland 128, 39.4 overs (Luke Wood 2-18, Josh Shaw 2-24)

South Africa beat Namibia by 5 wickets at Abu Dhabi Oval 2: Namibia 204-8, 50 overs (Malan Kruger 58, Xander Pitchers 52, Jano Coetzee 48) South Africa 205-5, 47.3 overs (Aiden Markram 53 retired out, Kirwin Christoffels 30 retired out)

Pakistan beat UAE by 10 wickets at The Seven 2: UAE 101, 31.3 overs (Shorye Chopra 36; Zia-ul-Haq 3-15, Irfanullah Shah 3-27) Pakistan 102-0, 17 overs (Sami Aslam 43 not out, Inam-ul-Haq 42 not out)

Wednesday’s warm-up fixtures:

Bangladesh v England, Zayed Cricket Stadium

Afghanistan v Scotland, Abu Dhabi Oval 1

PNG v Canada, Abu Dhabi Oval 2

Sri Lanka v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium

India v South Africa, ICC Academy 1

Australia v Pakistan, ICC Academy 2

Zimbabwe v UAE, The Sevens 1, Dubai

New Zealand v West Indies, The Sevens 2

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.