Smith, Wedderburn put Young West Indies in sight of semis
WEST INDIES took a giant stride towards a semifinal berth in the ICC Under-19 World Cup yesterday when they, once again, held their nerves to beat a determined Sri Lanka by three wickets in their first game of the Super Six stage.
Chasing 232 at Diamond Oval, the Caribbean side made the chase perhaps more complicated than it should have been, before getting over the line with three balls left in the Group 2 contest.
Opener Steve Wedderburn finally found his touch with a manof-the-match 61 off 71 balls while Jordan Johnson chipped in with 39 off 46 deliveries and captain Stephan Pascal, 31 off 26.
However, West Indies needed the level head of Nathan Sealy in the late stages, the right-hander entering at number eight to see off Sri Lanka’s challenge with an unbeaten 27 off 28 deliveries.
He received crucial support from Tarrique Edward (11 not out) in an invaluable 26-run, unbroken eighth-wicket partnership, the pair taking the contest into the final over with the scores level.
“I feel very good about the win we had today, and this is all leading from the victory over Australia in the second Test,” Wedderburn said about the senior West Indies side’s stunning win in Brisbane on Sunday.
“It was always to remain positive and adapt. We played a series against [Sri Lanka] last year August, so we knew quite a bit about them and we just played to what we knew.
“We adapted very well, especially on today’s wicket which was up and down. We played very well.”
Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka were dismissed for 231 off the final delivery of the 50 overs, with Dinura Kalupahana top-scoring with 53 off 83 deliveries, Malsha Tharupathi getting 42 off 38 balls and Supun Waduge chiming in with 31 from 40.
Opener Pulindu Perera struck 24 off 31 balls but Sri Lanka still slumped to 46 for three in the 10th over as left-arm seamer Nathan Edward (2-47) struck twice with the new ball.
Kalupahana then l ed his side’s recovery, anchoring key partnerships.
First, he posted 39 for the fourth wicket with Waduge, then added a further 36 for the fifth wicket with Sharujan Shanmuganathan (14) before adding 51 in a critical sixth-wicket partnership with Tharupathi, who blasted seven fours in a breezy knock.
The right-handed Kalupahana was seventh out in the 39th over after striking five fours, and fast bowler Raneico Smith (4-47) quickly mopped up the tail thereafter.
West Indies were handed a flying start by Wedderburn and Pascal, the pair putting on 48 off 49 deliveries for the first wicket, to force the Sri Lankans on the defensive.
Wedderburn thumped five fours and three sixes while Pascal belted five fours and a six before becoming the first casualty of the innings, loosely driving new-ball pacer Dinura Kalupahana (2-39) to backward point.
When Joshua Dorne followed for seven, edging a drive at leftarm spinner Vishwa Lahiru (2-32) to first slip, West Indies were 61 for two in the 12th, but Wedderburn combined with fellow left-hander Johnson to add a precious 86 for the third wicket.
Wedderburn reached his fifty off 59 balls with a sweep to the square leg boundary off off-spinner Sineth Jayawardena (2-39) in the 22nd over but West Indies suffered a setback when both batsmen perished in successive overs with two runs added.
Wedderburn holed out to long off in the 27th off Jayawardena while Johnson drove off-spinner Vihas Thewmika low to short cover in the 28th, leaving the chase poised at 149 for four.
Mavendra Dindyal (17) and Nathan Edward (13) led the fightback in a 31-run, fifth-wicket stand, and when two wickets fell for four runs in the space of 21 balls, Sealy added 22 with Jewel Andrew (11) for the seventh before completing the job in partnership with Tarrique Edward.
West Indies take on Group 2 leaders Australia in their last Super Six game on Friday.