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Chris Dhambarage reporting from Bangladesh

DHAKA, Bangladesh, February 22. Sri Lanka's dynamic all rounder Kosala Kulasekera produced another magnificent batting performance but the West Indies proved their superiority pulling off an exciting 19 run win in their ICC under 19 Youth World Cup Super League match played at the Fatuallah Stadium on Sunday.

Kulasekera made a fighting knock of 64 from 98 deliveries as Sri Lanka were eventually dismissed for 181 in 49 overs while chasing West Indies total of 200 runs. Kulasekera brought some hope into the Sri Lankan camp with a tremendous batting performance after they had collapsed to 71 for 7 by the 25th over. The right hander single handedly took the fight into the West Indies side playing some delightful shots during his 129 minute stay at the crease.

Kulasekera was well supported by Mohamed Suraj with the pair adding 93 runs for the eighth wicket. This combination revived the Sri Lankan innings with some intelligent batting and good running between the wickets as they reached the 150 run mark in the 44th over. Kulasekera doing the bulk of the scoring while picking the gaps quite beautifully and also hitting the occasional boundary to put the fielding side under great pressure.

Their efforts certainly surprised the West Indies who were set to pull off a comfortable win at one stage. They had all the reasons to feel about it because they ripped through the Sri Lankan top order by the 18th over and were hoping for an early finish. Opening bowler Lionel Baker played havoc with the Sri Lankan batting capturing three early wickets. The right arm fast bowler generated a great amount of pace and bounce from the wicket and had the batsmen guessing all the time. He really frustrated the Sri Lankan openers with a hostile opening spell and then came back to finish off the game with three more wickets.

Baker who picked up the man of the match award for his splendid figures of 6 for 39 received good support from Mathew, Bachan and Yearwood. Among his victims was Kosala Kulasekera who figured in a vain effort stroking five boundaries during his entertaining innings of 64. Mohamed Suraj also rose to the occasion and batted sensibly before losing his wicket in the 47th over. Sri Lanka had a chance of pulling off an unlikely win when Kulasekera and Suraj were at the crease with both stroking the ball quite confidently. But they had to score more than 20 runs from the last two overs and that was too much when the side is under tremendous pressure.

Upul Tharanga continued his dismal tour with another poor performance while Harsha Vithana who was promoted to open the innings became Baker's first victim in the second over. The Lankans struggled for runs from there onwards with Kaushal Silva and Nadeera Nawala both being victims of some poor shot selection. Ganganath Ratnayake and skipper Farveez Maharoof made a desperate attempt to repair the early damage adding 26 runs for the fifth wicket. However Maharoof when he was just beginning to settle down was trapped in front by Yearwood and Gihan de Silva was run out in the very next delivery while attempting a second run.

The West Indies innings was built around a superb knock of 51 from their captain Denesh Ramdin. The right hander adjusted himself well according to the situation and carried his team towards a challenging total before losing his wicket in the 49th over. He collected his runs from 71 balls stroking two fours and a six and also added 46 runs for the fifth wicket along with Jonathan Augusts. This was after Assad Fudadin had given them a good start scoring 37 off 56 deliveries with one six and one four. The Lankans came back into the game through some superb outfielding where they inflicted two run outs through Kosala Kulasekera and Harsha Vithana. However Denesh Ramdin made sure that the West Indies reached the two hundred run mark with a determined batting performance leaving Sri Lanka a tough task of scoring exactly four runs per over to win the game.

WEST INDIES INNINGS 
Xavier Marshal lbw b Chanaka 12, Tishan Maraj c de Silva b Mohamed 35, Lendl Simmons c Silva b Kulasekera 16, Assad Fudadin b Mohamed 37, Denesh Ramdin c Ratnayake b Maharoof 51, Jonathan Augustus run out (Kulasekera) 17 Mervin Mathew run out (Vithana) 1, Lim Sebastian not out 11, Barrington Yearwood not out 0, 
EXTRAS (b3, 7lb, nb2, w8) 20.
TOTAL for 7 wickets in 50 overs 200

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-23, 2-63, 3-80, 4-119, 5-165, 6-172, 7-199.

Bowling: Maharoof 10-1-37-1, Chanaka 10-1-33-1, Kulasekera 7-0-31-1, De Zoysa 10-0-40-0, Suraj 10-0-30-2, Ratnayake 3-0-19-0.

SRI LANKA INNINGS 
Upul Tharanga c Fudadin b Baker 7, Harsha Vithana lbw b Baker 4 Nadeera Nawala lbw b Mathew 4, Kaushal Silva c Marshal b Baker 0 Ganganath Ratnayake c Marshal b Bachan 22, Farveez Maharoof lbw b Yearwood 14, Gihan de Silva run out (Mathew) 1, Kosala Kulasekera c Sebastian b Baker 64, Mohamed Suraj c Simmons b Baker 37, Sudeera de Zoysa lbw b Baker 7, Manoj Chanaka not out 0, EXTRAS (lb2, nb3, w16) 21.

TOTAL all out in 49 overs 181

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-7, 2-16, 3-21, 4-31, 5-47, 6-49, 7-71, 8-164, 9-180

BOWLING: Mathew 9-1-36-1, Baker 10-0-39-6, Simmons 2-0-7-0, Yearwood 9-0-42-1, Bachan 10-1-18-1, Sebastian 8-0-25-0, Augustus 1-0-12-0.

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