Sri Lanka kept their hopes of reaching the ICC U19 Men\u2019s Cricket World Cup 2026 semi-finals alive with a crucial victory against South Africa in Bulawayo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lions chased down 262 to win by five wickets and put the pressure on Super 6 Group 1 rivals Afghanistan, who can leapfrog them into second place on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afghanistan need to beat Ireland in the last group match in order to join Australia and two of India, England and Pakistan in the last four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chamuditha century carries Sri Lanka to victory<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa were already out of semi-final contention by the time they arrived at Queens Sports Club, with three defeats to fellow Super 6 sides already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that did not dampen their spirit and they made an excellent start with the bat after winning the toss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jorich Van Schalkwyk, who made a valiant century to underpin their innings, and Adnaan Lagadien put on 96 for the first wicket in just over 18 overs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It needed something special to break the partnership and that arrived in the 19th over as Vigneshwaran Akash spun a googly back through Lagadien\u2019s gate and hit the top of middle stump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His departure for 46 sparked a mini collapse as South Africa went from 90 without loss to 125 for three, but Van Schalkwyk continued to impress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He made 116, with 13 fours and two sixes, while those around him struggled, as Akash took a brilliant four for 46 to keep Sri Lanka in the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Van Schalkwyk fell in the 41st over, leaving Paul James (37 not out) and Michael Kruiskamp (21 not out) to take South Africa to 261 for seven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa made a promising start with the ball, as Kruiskamp dismissed Sri Lanka opener Dimantha Mahavithana for just four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Viran Chamuditha (110) and Senuja Wekunagoda (48) steadied the ship and scored fluently in a 143-run partnership that proved decisive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chamuditha matched Van Schalkwyk\u2019s 13 fours while hitting his second century of the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His 110 came in just 94 balls and marked a return to form following three successive single-figure scores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He fell with the score at 191 for three but captain Vimath Dinsara (32) made a valuable contribution as Sri Lanka comfortably reached the target with four overs to spare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scores in brief<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa v Sri Lanka<\/strong> at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa 261\/7 in 50 overs (Jorich Van Schalkwyk 116, Adnaan Lagadien 46; Vigneshwaran Akash 4\/46, Kavija Gamage 2\/61)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sri Lanka 265\/5 in 46 overs (Viran Chamuditha 110, Senuja Wekunagoda 48; Corne Botha 2\/37, Michael Kruiskamp 2\/59)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Result: Sri Lanka win by five wickets<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sri Lanka kept their hopes of reaching the ICC U19 Men\u2019s Cricket World Cup 2026 semi-finals alive with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[69],"class_list":["post-8542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-cricket"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t