After losing to Bangladesh in the first match, Australia has been unstoppable in this U19 World Cup. Registering their second win of the tournament versus Sri Lanka in their Group A match at Benoni, they are on a roll. Sri Lanka though had a fantastic start to their World Cup campaign with a win but losing their next two matches was not ideal. Winning the toss today, they decided to field first.
Australia had a fine day with the bat. The openers, Kate Pelle and Sianna Ginger gave them a solid start and they were cruising. Dewmi Vihanga who has been impressive for Sri Lanka through this World Cup stood out with her performances and got the Islanders their first breakthrough by getting rid of Pelle who was striking at 142.1. Claire Moore, too, was dismissed by Rishmi Sanjana for 6 in less than two overs later further complicated it. But Sianna Ginger and Ella Hayward, the experienced duo put on a commendable stand and scored at a good rate that helped Australia get through the tough phase. Their dismissals in the 14th and 15th over respectively shook the Australian innings but Amy Smith and Lucy Hamilton with their knocks of 22 each helped Australia post a commendable 159/5 in their 20 overs quota. Sanjana for her 2 wickets besides the duo of Nethranjali and Vihanga were instrumental in restricting the Australian batting that could potentially pose a stiffer target.
Sri Lanka was rocked early on in their chase losing Vihara Sewwandi for a golden duck and Nethmi Senarathna for 11, their only batter who crossed double-digit figures. Vismi Gunaratne, the skipper of the Sri Lankan team followed suit getting dismissed for 3 by Clark who struck again dismissing Sumudu Nisansala. At the 7-over mark, Sri Lanka was 4 wickets down and now it was up to their middle order to deliver the goods but the Australian bowling attack broke the spine of their batting as Dewmi Vihanga, Manudi Nanayakkara, Reshmi Nethranjali and Dulanga Dissanayake were dismissed that signalled the end of Sri Lanka’s batting. To worsen matters Rashmika Sewwandi was run out and as Vidushika Perera was out LBW, Sri Lanka folded with all their ten wickets down for 51. All the Australian bowlers were among wickets, with Maggie Clark and Lucy Hamilton scalping two wickets and Charis Bekker, Ella Hayward, Sianna Ginger, Amy Smith and Milly Illingworth scalping a wicket each in what was a memorable and dominant bowling performance to completely outclass Sri Lanka.
🇦🇺 Australia U19 won by 108 runs
🇦🇺 Australia U19: 159-5 (20)
Ella Hayward: 36 (31)
Sienna Ginger: 30 (31)
Rishmi Sanjana 2-30🇱🇰 Sri Lanka U19: 51 (13)
Nethmi Senarathne: 11 (18)
Dewmi Vihanga: 9 (10)
Lucy K Hamilton 2-0#CricketTwitter #U19T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Vx6iUCD67i— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 18, 2023
Ella Hayward for her knock of 36 and figures of 1/7 was adjudged the ‘Player of the Match’.
Brief Scores – AUS 159/5 in 20 overs (E Hayward 36, S Ginger 30; R Sanjana 2/30, D Vihnag 1/21) defeated SL 51 all out in 13 overs (N Senarathna 11, D Vihanga 9; L Hamilton 2/0, M Clark 2/8) by 108 runs
I am a first year postgraduate student pursuing a MA in Media and Communication Studies at Christ University, Bengaluru. I am a podcaster, blogger and an avid cricket fan. When not glued to cricket matches, you can find me submerged in books and thinking about cricket all the time.
