All-round Asalanka downs Bangladesh

Charith Asalanka starred with bat and ball as Sri Lanka Under-19s comfortably beat Bangladesh Under-19s in the first of the five Youth ODIs played in Colombo. His 4 for 36 was instrumental in restricting Bangladesh to 202 after the visitors had opted to bat, then he followed it up with 63 as Sri Lanka cruised to the target with 5.4 overs to spare.

Bangladesh started poorly. When Asalanka dismissed Zakir Hasan in the 18th over, Bangladesh were 51 for 3. An 80-run stand between Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Mehedy Hasan helped Bangladesh recover, but two quick wickets in the 35th and the 37th overs hampered their progress. Nazmul was stumped in the 40th over, bowled by Asalanka, and Bangladesh were later bowled out in the 50th over.

Sri Lanka's brisk start to the chase suffered a minor jolt in the seventh over when opener Kaveen Bandara was run out but Asalanka and Lasith Lakshan added 124 for the second wicket to thwart Bangladesh bowlers. Although Lakshan (71 off 107) and Asalanka were dismissed within the space of 12 balls, Sri Lanka were untroubled.