England completed a comprehensive victory on the final day of the second Youth Men’s Test at Cheltenham, beating Sri Lanka by an innings and 53 runs.
Recommencing their second innings on 246 for 7 and facing an impossible task in terms of saving the game, the tourists required a further 78 runs just to make their opponents bat again. Needing to take a further three wickets to wrap up win in the match and the series, the Young Lions needed only 10.5 overs to finish the job at the College Ground.
Avoiding the new ball, captain Hamza Shaikh instead trusted in his spinners, Farhan Ahmed and Charlie Barnard finishing the job without recourse to pace. Nottinghamshire off spinner Ahmed proved especially effective, claiming impressive figures of 4 for 59 from 26.5 overs with seven maidens as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 271.
Consuming summoned stiff resistance the previous evening to carry the contest into a fourth day, Vihas Thewmika fell for a 38-ball 18 in the fourth over of the morning, offering a straightforward return catch to Lancashire slow left armer Barnard, who finished with figures of 2 for 55 from 21 overs.
Manuja Chanthuka came and went quickly, falling lbw to Ahmed for one as the home side closed in on an inside-the-distance win. Ahmed then finished things off, pinning last man Sheshan Marasinghe on the front foot in his next over.
Determined to prove a point after having been held to a exasperating draw in a rain-affected contest in the first Test at Wormsley, the Young Lions dominated every aspect of this game to stamp their authority and complete a thoroughly-deserved one-nil series win at one of English cricket’s most iconic festivals.
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