Sri Lanka held off Afghanistan in a thriller while rain denied Australia the chance to chase down South Africa’s total in the final warm-up matches for the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026.
Only five batters reached double figures in Sri Lanka’s innings and just two made more than 20, but Dulnith Sigera and Kavija Gamage’s 170-run partnership proved key in their second warm-up victory.
The pair narrowly missed out on centuries but steered Sri Lanka to 266 for eight in their innings.
Sigera, opening the batting, was the more cautious as he watched Dimantha Mahavithana (16), Senuja Wekunagoda (18) and captain Vimath Dinsara (0) fall cheaply but when Gamage came to the crease, runs began to flow.
They batted until the 48th over, when Sigera fell for 95 and Gamage for 97 – the latter run out by Uzairullah Niazai – and that sparked a late-innings collapse as Sri Lanka went from 241 for three to 266 for eight in just 18 balls.
The wet weather reduced Afghanistan’s target to 118 and an 81-run partnership between Khalid Ahmadzai (57 not out) and Faisal Shinozada (35) looked to get them there.
However, a couple of late wickets meant they fell just short, finishing on 110 for three from 23.5 overs.
Afghanistan begin their tournament against South Africa in Windhoek on Friday, while Sri Lanka play Japan on Saturday.
Scores in brief:
Sri Lanka 266/8 in 50 overs (Kavija Gamage 97, Dulnith Sigera 95; Khatir Stanikzai 3/36, Rohullah Arab 1/21)
Afghanistan 110/3 (rev) in 23.5 overs, T:118 (Khalid Ahmadzai 57 not out, Faisal Shinozada 35; Vigneshwaran Akash 1/8, Malintha Silva 1/11)
Result: Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan by seven runs (DLS method)
