U19 World Cup 2018, Day 8- Round-up

The eighth day of the ICC U19 World Cup 2018 saw the last of the Group stage games. While two of them were one-sided, the other couple of matches kept everyone on the edge of their seats for a major duration of the games. Afghanistan and Ireland clashed in a Group D encounter in Whangarei and it turned out to be a cliffhanger.

Naveen-ul-Haq and Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field. The decision paid dividends as they restricted Ireland to a modest 225/8 in 50 overs. The Irish were erratic as none of their batsmen converted the starts into substantial scores. For Afghanistan, Wafadar and Qais Ahmad nipped out three wickets each.

The target was well and truly within reach of the Afghans to trace down. However, they stuttered during the entire length of their run chase and eventually were bowled out for 221 runs. Consequently, they tantalisingly fell short of the target by four runs. After scoring 35 runs with the bat, Harry Tector picked a couple of wickets which earned him the Player of the Match award.

Kenya and the defending champions West Indies clashed in Group C encounter at Lincoln. The game was a dead rubber as both teams were ousted from the tournament. West Indies won the toss, elected to bat first and stamped their authority on the Kenyans. Alick Athanaze notched a brilliant 116 off 93 balls which helped the Caribbean team post a challenging target of 319 runs for Kenya.

Kenya commenced proceedings with a half-century stand between openers Aman Gandhi and Denis Kavinya. However, some brilliant piece of bowling by Jeavor Royal and Bhaskar Yadram ensured that the Kenyans collapse from 51/1 to 96 all out in a space of 88 balls. Windies, with their 222-run win, registered their maiden victory in the tournament.

England and Canada locked horns in a Group C encounter at Queenstown. Canada were mathematically in with an opportunity to qualify for the quarter-finals. England, on the other hand, were sitting pretty with a healthy net-run-rate. The match panned out to be a drab affair as Harry Brook’s men thrashed the Canadians by 282 runs and topped the group.

Canada won the toss and elected to field first. The decision backfired as twin-centuries from Liam Banks and Will Jacks propelled England to 383/7 in 50 overs. Faisal Jamkhandi and Tiaan Pretorius picked up three wickets each but weren’t able to put a lid on the belligerent English batsmen. Even their lower order chipped in with quick-fire knocks.

They lost wickets at regular intervals and were never in contention to trace down the mammoth target. Consequently, they were shot out for 101 runs and slumped to a hefty defeat by a massive margin of 282 runs.

South Africa and New Zealand clashed in a Group A game at Mount Maunganui. Both the teams came into the game having qualified for the quarter-finals. New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first. They reached a competitive score of 279/8 courtesy Rachin Ravindra’s well-compiled 76 runs off 89 balls. His opening wicket-stand of 108 runs with Jakob Bhula set the platform for a blistering finish.

South Africa stuttered during their run-chase and lost wickets at an alarming rate. However, a stand of 106 runs between Hermann Rolfes and Jean du Plessis injected momentum into the Proteas’ innings. Meanwhile, Rolfes scored a brilliant 108 runs off 124 balls which kept South Africa’s hopes alive. After their dismissals, it was a matter of time before the Kiwis closed the game out and eventually won by 71 runs.

Brief Scores

Ireland v Afghanistan, Group D, Whangarei

Ireland 225/8 in 50 overs (Graham Kennedy 37, Harry Tector 36; Qais Ahmad 3/32, Wafadar 3/50)

Afghanistan 221 all out in 49.2 overs (Bahir Shah 34, Tariq Stanikzai 33; Harry Tector 3/37, Joshua Little 2/40)

Ireland beat Afghanistan by four runs

Man of the Match: Harry Tector

Windies v Kenya, Group A, Lincoln

Windies 318/7 in 50 overs (Alick Athanaze 116, Nyeem Young 57; Aveet Desai 3/54, Abhishekh Chidambaram 1/55)

Kenya 96 all out in 24.4 overs (Aman Gandhi 37, Sachin Bhudia 19; Bhaskar Yadram 5/18, Jeavor Royal 4/25)

Windies beat Kenya by 222 runs

Man of the Match: Alick Athanaze

England v Canada, Group C, Queenstown

England 383/7 in 50 overs (Liam Banks 120, Will Jacks 102; Tiaan Pretorius 3/69, Faisal Jamkhandi 3/68)

Canada 101 all out in 31.5 overs (Pranav Sharma 24, Arslan Khan 21; Prem Sisodiya 3/23, Luke Hollman 2/21)

England beat Canada by 101 runs

Man of the Match: Liam Banks

New Zealand v South Africa, Group A, Mount Maunganui

New Zealand 279/8 in 50 overs (Rachin Ravindra 76, Dale Phillips 43; Kgaudisa Molefe 2/49, Hermann Rolfes 1/55)

South Africa 208 all out in 46.2 overs (Hermann Rolfes 108, Jean du Plessis 54; Rachin Ravindra 4/32, Jakob Bhula 2/25)

New Zealand beat South Africa by 71 runs

Man of the Match: Rachin Ravindra