St Joseph's College beat Hong Kong Under-19s by 8 wickets

The Hong Kong Under-19 team ended their tour of Sri Lanka on a losing note when they were soundly beaten by St Joseph's College of Colombo.

In a match played at the St Joseph's College ground, the Hong Kong team was asked to bat after losing the toss for the third successive match. Despite coming off successive wins over two other college teams, the Hong Kong Under-19s were found wanting against the strong St Joseph's College XI, the reigning Sri Lankan Inter-school cricket champions.

The Hong Kong Under-19s' top-order failed to establish much of a base as they slipped to 74-5 after 19 overs against an attack that included the Sri Lankan Under-19 opening bowler Tissara Perera and one of the country's best young leg spinners. Hong Kong finally reached a total of 164 from 48.3 overs thanks to the efforts of Ashish Ghadia, the youngest member of the squad, who top scored with an excellent 51. Hong Kong's cause was not helped by three run-outs.

In reply, the St Joseph's College team had little trouble against the Hong Kong bowling attack and they eased to victory by 8 wickets in 41.3 overs with Hareen top scoring with 61 and Shakthi making 41.

[Full Scorecard]

The Hong Kong Under-19 team finished with a 2-2 record in their 50 overs per side matches in Sri Lanka, having recorded victories over the Prince of Wales College and St Thomas's College.

The team will travel to Malaysia tomorrow, where they will contest the ACC Under-19 Elite Cup with an aim to qualifying for the Under-19 World Cup. Hong Kong's first match in the tournament will be against Qatar on 20th August 2007.

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