Thread: Wakely slams century as England U19 triumph over Sri Lanka U19

Fazil Mahmud
2nd February, 2007


England bounced back to turn the tables on Sri Lanka with a thrilling 14 runs victory in the HSBC Malaysian Under-19 Invitational Tri-series at the Kinrara Oval on Friday.

Chasing a victory target of 251 runs after Man of the Match Alex Wakely knocked a century (108) and Adam Lyth put on 50, Sri Lanka scrambled to reach 236-9 in the 46th over ÂÂ*- still needing 15 more to win when Amal Atappatu was run out. There was so much of joy as the England players danced and celebrated on the field.

Amal became the third victim of the English fielders accurate throw-ins after Roshane Silva (40) and Wimanga Perera suffered similar fate.

Pace bowler Steven Finn returned figures of 2-31, Wakely (2-56) and Adam Miller (1-35) to put the brakes on the Sri Lankans.

England, who go on top of the table standings despite sharing six equal points with Sri Lanka after Friday's win in the triangular, lost by 16 runs when the two Test nations met on Monday for the first time. They head for another showdown on February 7 at the same venue.

"It was a great game today. I am happy for the players as they fought back strongly to keep Sri Lanka batsman from closing in at the late stages of the match," said England manager John Abrahams.

Sri Lanka won the toss and put England in to bat. It started as a tough day for the English who lost the first wicket in the fifth over, that of Sam Northeast bowled by Isuru Perera (3) for eight runs on the board. Isuru than had opener Karl Brown removed ÂÂ*six overs later, caught by Wimanga Perera ÂÂ*in deep covers. England were in trouble at 39-2.

However, an 81-run partnership between Wakely ÂÂ*from Northamptonshire and Yorkshire's Lyth (54) for the third wicket brought some form of relief to the England camp. The pair parried the score to 120 before Lyth was out stumped by wicketkeeper Kushal Perera off spinner Amal.

Wakely smashed eight fours and three sixers in a 140-ball hundred ÂÂ*while Lyth celebrated with three boundaries and a six.

England captain Greg Wood was also instrumental in the chase for runs. After Ben Wright departed at 156-4, Wood took responsibility and pushed the score to 208 together with Wakely. However, England 's march further was stuttered with the run outs of Wakely and Mervyn Westfied. (4) with no more overs remaining..

Sri Lanka, in reply, were jolted in the fifth over when paceman Maurice Chambers bowled opener Dimuth Karunarate for 15 and Miller followed up by removing Kushal Janith Perera ÂÂ*(0) to leave the opponents reeling at 24-2.

However, an 86 runs partnership between Lahiru Thirimanne (50) and Ashan Priyanjan (36) lifted them to 110 for the third wicket before Ashan was out stumped by wicketkeeper Brown off Wakely.

England celebrated again when Wakely removed in-coming batsman Mohamed Feshal for duck having faced just two deliveries. Sri Lanka were 110-4 in the 24th over and struggled to add 16 more runs to the total before Lahiru was back in the pavilion.

The introduction of skipper Sachith Pathirana (57) and Roshane Silva (40) changed Sri Lanka's fortune as the pair put on 82 runs together, lifting them to 208-6 by the 40th over.

Just when the middle order batsmen showed their ability to make the runs, the tail enders were a letdown. Needing 43 runs to win, only Thisara Perera was in command (18) to put Sri Lanka closer at 232-7 and when Wimanga Perera (0) and Amal (1) became victims of run outs, it was England 's moment for celebration. ÂÂ*

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