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Luc Benkenstein’s century pilot England U19 to series win

Having won the toss, the hosts skipper Luc Benkenstein opted to bat first and posted 268 runs for 9 wickets on the board. Due to a rain interruption during the innings, the game was reduced to a 45-over contest.  

England middle order batters Luc Benkenstein and Charlie Allison stood out with brilliant knocks to guide their side to a solid total. Benkenstein scored 102 runs off 99 balls with 7 fours and 5 sixes while Allison contributed with 87 runs off 85 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes.

The off-spinner Vihas Thewmika was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors as he snared 4 wickets for 33 runs. The skipper Dinura Kalupahana also impressed with a 3-wicket haul. 

Sri Lanka were set a revised target of 265 in 45 overs as per the DLS calculations. They came very close to the target thanks to well-compiled half-centuries by Gayana Weerasinghe and Mahith Perera but fell short of just 4 runs at the end. 

Weerasinghe made 80 runs off 76 balls with 12 fours while Perera hit 53 runs off 54 balls with 3 fours and a six. Freddie McCann and Harry Moore starred with the ball for the hosts picking up 2 wickets each.  

Both sides will turn their focus to red-ball cricket now as they are set to meet in the first Youth Test of the two-match series on the 8th July at Wormsley.