Visakhapatnam, Oct 9: India Under-19s won the Quadrangular Under-19 Series by beating Sri Lanka Under-19s by five runs at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here.

The Indian colts remained unbeaten throughout the series, also featuring teams from Australia, West Indies and Sri Lanka, winning all seven games they played.

B Aparajith was the leading wicket-taker of the series with 22 wickets; he was instrumental in India’s victories during the league phase even though he claimed only one wicket in the final. Sandeep Sharma, who was the second highest wicket-taker in the series with 14 wickets, claimed a four-for in the final.

Sharma, the Punjab pacer, bowled at a miserly economy rate of 2.33 runs per over as India U-19s defended 168 runs; he dismissed SL opener Niroshan Dickwella in the very first over. Rush Kalaria followed up with the wicket of the other opener, Shehan Fernando, in the second over, while Sharma dismissed SL skipper Angelo Jayasinghe in the third over. The Lankans were accordingly reeling at 10 runs for the loss of three wickets in as many overs.

The SL batsmen failed to find their bearings as the Indian pacers, Sharma and Kalaria, ran though the line-up.

Bowling in tandem, right-arm pacer Sharma and left-arm pacer Kalaria claimed four and three wickets respectively while Aparajith and Vikas Mishra picked one each to wrap up the SL innings for 163 runs in 46.5 overs.

As many as four Sri Lankan batsmen returned for naught; Lahiru Madushanka’s 63 off 99 balls at No. 7 stood out as the batsman put up a fight to bring the visitors close to the target. His innings, that included five boundaries, was ended by Kalaria. Sharma then removed the last two wickets to give India a much- deserved victory.

Earlier, after being asked to bat, the India U-19s were all out for 168 in their allotted 50 overs. The top-order failed to give the Indians a good start; opener Manan Vohra was sent back for two by Sanitha de Mel. A little while later, Hanuman Vihari and Kumar Deobrat followed him back to the pavilion.

India skipper and opener Unmukt Chand, who ended as the second highest run-getter of the series with 336 runs at an average of 67.20, was run out for 14 runs. Aparajith, who replaced him in the middle, returned to the dressing room without adding a run, which left the Indians tottering on 37 for the loss of five wickets.

A 67-run partnership between Akashdeep Nath (55 runs) and wicketkeeper Smit Patel (31 runs) for the sixth wicket, followed by a 35-ball 23 by Harmeet Singh, helped India post a defendable total on the board.

Madushanka, who picked the wickets of Vihari, Aparajith, Patel and Kalaria for 17 runs, was assisted by Amila Aponso who took two wickets while de Mel and Dhanushka claimed one apiece to keep the Indian innings in check.

Sri Lankan cricketer Madushanka’s performance with the bat and the ball stood out in the low-scoring but closely fought battle.

Brief scores:India Under-19s 168 all out in 50 overs (AD Nath 55, SK Patel 31, LD Madushanka 4/17, MA Aponso 2/40) beat Sri Lanka Under-19s 163 all out in 46.5 overs (LD Madushanka 63, Sandeep Sharma 4/23, RB Kalaria 3/34) by 5 runs

Third place play-off

West Indies Under-19s beat the Australia Under-19s by 16 runs in the third place play-off that took place at Port Trust Diamond Jubilee Stadium in Visakhapatnam.