Sri Lanka thump Namibia by 77 runs

Under 19 world cup 2024

Supun Waduge’s blistering half century followed by a brilliant spell by Vishva Lahiru and Ruvishan Perera steered Sri Lanka under 19 to a comfortable 77 run win over Namibia Under-19 in a group ‘C’ of the ongoing Under 19 world Cup in South Africa.

After being put into bat first, Sri Lanka got off to a shaky start when they were reduced to 71-5 with half of their recognised batters back in the pavilion cheaply.

Fast bowler Zacheo Van Vuuren was the architect of the collapse as he ran through Sri Lanka top order to put the Islanders in some sort of trouble.

However, when the chips were down, No. 3 batter Supun Waduge led the resistance, scoring an unbeaten 56 off 79 despite wickets falling at regular intervals at the other end to eventually bowled out for 133 runs.

Zacheo Van Vuuren ended with figures of 4-23 while Johannes de Villers bagged three wickets.

In reply, Namibia lost the plot from the get go as they were bundled out for 56 runs.

Left-arm spinner Vishwa Lahoru and medium-pacer Ruvishan Perera took three each as all of Namibia’s top eight batters fell for single-digit scores.

When Namibia were in state of bother, a rebuild was attempted by Peter-Daniel Blignaut and Hanro Badenhorst, who put up an 18-run partnership for the 9th wicket but there efforts were too little too late for them to take their team over the line.

The win saw Sri Lanka topped Group ‘C’ with 2 win out of two games. They will next meet Australia on Sunday (28).

Brief scores: 
Sri Lanka: 133 all out (37.5) (Supun Waduge 56, Rusanda Gamage 17, Zacheo van-Vuuren 4-23, Johannes de Villers 3-19)   Namibia: 56 all out (27) (Peter Daniel Blignaut 18, Vishwa Lahiru 3-19, Ruvishan Perera 3-3)