India U-19 storm into final

India U-19 248 (Tiwary 63, Abdullah 49*) beat Sri Lanka U-19 87(Singh 3-17, Prasad 3-20) by 161 runs
Scorecard

A breezy 63 off 66 balls from Saurav Tiwary helped India Under-19 register a convincing 161-run win over their Sri Lankan counterparts, their third successive victory in the Tri-nations Under-19s Tournament. With this, India booked their spot in the final of the tournament, also featuring Bangladesh.

India, opting to bat after winning the toss, piled 248 off 50 overs, with Virat Kohli (32)and Iqbal Abdulla (49*) helping Tiwary take India to a competitive total. Tiwary though was on song, hitting three sixes and five fours during his knock.

In reply, Sri Lanka could muster only 87. Shiva Prasad and Amanpreet Singh bagged three wickets apiece as Sri Lanka were skittled out in 29.1 overs at the Nondescript Cricket Club Ground in Colombo.

India were in trouble at one stage, having lost six wickets with the score on 108. Tiwary and Abdulla then put on a 88-run stand for the seventh wicket before Tiwary was dismissed by Sachith Pathirana, the Sri Lankan captain. Abdulla combined with Pradeep Sangwan to take the total to 245, before pacer Ishara Jayaratne wrapped up the tail. Jayaratne picked up a five-for as India made 248 off 49.1 overs.

India bettered their performance against Sri Lanka in an earlier match of the tournament, when they defeated them by a margin of 159 runs.

The team takes on Bangladesh in their last round-robin encounter before facing either hosts Sri Lanka or Bangladesh in the final on Saturday.