Cape Town - Sri Lanka claimed a 12-run (D/L method) win over the Coca-Cola South Africa under-19s in the rain affected, second Youth ODI in Colombo on Monday.
The hosts leveled the series, 1-1 with the third and final match due to take place on Wednesday, July 13th.
Sri Lanka captain Avishka Fernando, narrowly missed out on his 100, top-scoring with 97 from 115 balls, to lead his side to 209 with four balls of the innings remaining. South Africa’s William Sendin continued his good form with the ball, taking 3/46, while Jade de Klerk, SA captain Wiaan Mulder and Daniel Moriarty all took two wickets each.
The visitors’ innings was plagued by wickets tumbling at critical moments. Kenan Smith (46) scored the most runs after Mulder (41) and Jesse Christensen (35) had put on 54 runs for the fourth wicket, the highest partnership of the innings. Smith and Sendin (16) went on to share a 40-run, eight-wicket stand to help creep their side within sight of the required total, but the dismissal of the latter in the 47th over and the downpour of rain put the young Proteas on the back-foot once again.
They fell 12 runs short in the end, giving both sides plenty to play for in the deciding match on Wednesday.