Dominant India beat Sri Lanka to clinch U-19 Asia Cup

Following the footsteps of their seniors, the Indian U-19 team thrashed Sri Lanka by a massive 144 runs to win the U-19 Asia Cup at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday.

India were dominant on all frontals as Sri Lanka mirroring their seniors failed to put up a fight against the superior Indian side.

Opting to bat first, India posted a mammoth 304 runs for the loss of just three wickets in 50 overs. But in reply, the Lankans lost wickets in regular intervals to bundle out for 160 in 38.4 overs, with spinner Harsh Tyagi taking the majority of them to bring up the victory for his side. Tyagi was declared the Man of the Match for his 6/38 in 10 overs.

The India senior team had just a week ago defeated Bangladesh in a nail-biting finish to win their seventh Asia Cup at the same stadium.

Aware of the spinning track, both sides went in with more spinners, but the Lankan spinners were slow in the air making it easier for their Indian counterparts to score. Tyagi, meanwhile, found a lot of help and made full use of it. He started with the opening wicket of Pasindhu Sooriyabandara (31), who with opener Nishan Madushka (49) shared a 46-run partnership for the second wicket after Mohit Jangra had dismissed Sri Lanka skipper Nipun Dananjaya for 20 in the seventh over.

The pair of Pasindhu- Nishan started rebuilding the innings but Tyagi sent the former back, before striking in consecutive overs to bring Sri Lanka from 66-1 in the 15^th over to reeling at 79-4 at the end the 19^th. He also had Nishan caught behind few overs later and then returned in his final spell to take the wickets of Sandun Mendis and Kalhara Senarathne for single-digit scores ad complete his six-wicket haul in the final.

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Fellow spinner Siddharth Desai also chipped in with two wickets as the Lankans succumbed to a heavy defeat.

Earlier, opting to bat first, India were off to a flyer as the pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal (85) and Anuj Rawat stitched a century-run opening partnership a the top. The duo shared a 121-run stand before Rawat was dismissed to an LBW off Dulith Wellalage. Jaiswal then shared another 59-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal (31) but missed a century after failing to judge a Kalana Perera ball.

The stage was then set for stand-in captain PrabhSimran Singh and Ayush Badoni, both of whom launched a scathing attack on the Lankan spinners. Delhi lad Badoni especially was the main aggressor of the two and smashed four massive sixes in a single over of Shashika Dulshan.

While PrabhSimran made 65 off 37 balls with three fours and four sixes, Badoni hit 52 that had five sixes and two fours. The duo together smashed 110 runs in just 9.1 overs to take India past the 300 mark.