Sri Lanka U19 take series lead

Sri Lanka U19 won the fourth ODI at Canterbury by 11 runs to lead the five match series against England U19 2-1 going into the final game tomorrow (Friday).

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. The tourists lost Rumesh Buddika and Bhanuka Rajapaksa inside seven overs but a 94 run partnership between Ramith Rambukwella (68) and Kithuruwan Vithanage (45) helped Sri Lanka reach 122 in the 29th over. Although no other batsmen made significant contributions to the total Sri Lanka managed to post 221 before being bowled out with five balls remaining. David Payne 3-46 and Paul Best 2-35 were the pick of the bowlers with Matthew Dunn, Adam Ball and Ateeq Javid picking up a wicket a-piece.

Openers Joe Root and Jack Manuel got England off to a decent start with a partnership of 36 but wickets then fell at regular intervals and the hosts soon got behind the required run rate. Luke Wells top scored with 47 but when he was caught behind off Lahiru Jayarathne England still needed 40 to win from 30 balls with three wickets in hand. The target proved too much for the lower order batsmen and England were bowled out for 210.

Both sides will return to Canterbury on Friday for the final ODI which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports 1.