England 360 for 7 (McCann 174, Thain 66, Kalupahana 5-81) beat Sri Lanka 330 (Perera 64, Weerasinghe 57, Benkenstein 4-77) by 30 runs
A superb innings of 174 by Nottinghamshire’s Freddie McCann put England Men U19s on course for a stirring 30-run victory against Sri Lanka at Hove to level the three-match ODI series at 1-1. In the first match, at Chelmsford on Friday, Sri Lanka won by 65 runs.
After a measured start, the left-handed McCann cut loose in the second half of his innings to present Sri Lanka with a formidable total. And when Pulindu Perera and Gayana Weerasinghe put Sri Lanka well ahead of the asking rate, with a second wicket partnership worth 110 in just 14 overs, it was McCann who ended the alliance with a diving outfield catch to dismiss Weerasinghe (57) off the impressive bowling of Farhan Ahmed – younger brother of England’s leg-spinning prodigy Rehan Ahmed.
Sri Lanka made a much more positive start to their innings – they were 53 runs ahead of England’s score at the halfway stage of their innings – but their scoring rate declined as they lost wickets regularly as they attempted to take on England’s disciplined attack. Four overs after the dismissal of Weerasinghe, Perera was lbw to Warwickshire’s Tazeem Ali for 64 off 59 balls, with eight fours and a six, and Sri Lanka were unable to find another batsmen capable of dominating the England bowlers. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 330 in 49.2 overs, with Luc Benkenstein, son of South Africa’s Dale, taking four wickets.
The England innings had been based around a partnership of 127 in 24 overs between McCann and Noah Thain in which the Sri Lankan fielders were driven to distraction – quite literally. In the course of the partnership, with the fielders becoming increasingly vociferous, the umpires Jack Shantry and Nigel Llong spoke with the captain, Dinura Kalupahana, and told him that they had awarded England five penalty runs for distracting behaviour.
England had made a steady start and had scored 36 when Keshana Fonseka was caught in the slips off the last ball of the 6th over, the first bowled by Kalupahana. The 50 came up in the eighth and at the halfway stage England were 120 for one – they would score 240 from the second 25 overs.
While they were together, Essex’s Thain was even more impressively commanding than McCann. He swept Paveen Maneesha to long leg for four to reach his fifty from 60 deliveries and when he was out, pulling Kalupahana to backwared square-leg, he had scored 66 from 76 balls, with eight fours and a six.
McCann, who had reached his century from 97 balls, with 15 fours, now accelerated away, so his final figures were 174 off 139, with 22 fours and three sixes. There were cameos from Charlie Allison (46 off 43) and Dom Kelly, who hit four fours and two sixes in an 11-ball 32 not out. But Rocky Flintoff – the son of former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff – who came in near the end, was bowled leg stump for just three off five. Kalupahana was the most successful Sri Lankan bowler with five for 81 from his ten overs.
