West Indies U-19 held their nerve to beat England U-19 by two wickets earlier today in a thrilling contest at Senwes Park, Potchefstroom in South Africa.
This victory in their final 2024 ICC Under-19 World Cup group stage match has given their hopes for qualifying for the Super Six stage a massive boost as they now sit second in Group B, ahead of South Africa U-19, on net run rate.
England were sent into bat and produced their worst batting display of the competition, being bowled out for 192 runs in 46.3 overs, thanks to a superb effort in the field by the boys in Maroon. West Indies lost wickets in clusters but got over the line with plenty of time thanks to an all round performance by Nathan Edward, finishing on 196-8 with 54 balls remaining.
Captain Stephan Pascal won the toss and opted to bowl once again, with the decision paying off immediately as opener Jaydn Denly was castled in the first over by Edward. Skipper Ben McKinney, who has been in red-hot form, combined with Noah Thain, the half-centurion from the previous match, to lift England, but Edward struck again, dismissing the captain in a telling blow for England.
Hamza Sheikh showed flashes of his quality throughout the group stage but came to the fore when his side was under pressure, racing to 20 runs from his first 23 balls. In a lone battle against the Caribbean bowling attack, Sheikh struck a fine half century in an attempt to lift England out of the mire. It proved futile as Barbadian left-arm spinner Nathan Sealy dismissed Charlie Allison in the 28th over, and Dominic Kelly fell to Isai Thorne in the 34th, reducing England to 135-6.
Sheikh’s resurrection act, though, didn’t last long as Thorne once again showed his class taking his wicket for a stubborn 54. Despite the English wagging for a while they couldn’t pass the 200 run mark. Edwards shone brightest on a day when the whole attack fired, taking 3-28 in 6.3 overs.
West Indies suffered an early wicket at the beginning of their chase as Kelly sent Adrian Weir packing for a duck. Pascal was keen to make light work of the below par score, smashing three successive boundaries in the fifth over to give his side the momentum early on.
Spin worked a treat in the previous match for England and it produced the breakthrough again when Farhan Ahmed got left hander John Johnson to cut straight to point, to leave the side 68-3. West Indies proceeded to attack but lost wickets in clusters again. Seventeen-year-old Tazeem Ali, who was fresh off a three wicket haul against South Africa U-19, dismissed Mavendra Dindyal and the in-form Jewel Andrew in back to back overs to put a big dent in the chase.
At 98-5, Pascal found support from Nathan Edward and the duo went about playing risk-free cricket to rebuild the West Indian innings. Pascal raised his half-century as Edward looked to keep his end safe. Ali returned to the attack in the 30th over and in his second over of the spell, the leggie snared Pascal’s wicket to give England a late boost in the match. With the target still over 40 runs away, it was a big opening for England.
There would be two late wickets in the game but on a day where Nathan Edward could do no wrong, he sealed the win with a boundary to finish on 49*.
Summarised Scores
Game One:
England U-19 192 all out in 46.1 overs (Hamza Sheikh 54, Noah Thain 40; Nathan Edward 3-28, Raneico Smith 2-28)
West Indies U-19 196-8 in 41 overs (Stephan Pascal 58, Nathan Edward 49*, Tazeem Ali 3-34, Farhan Ahmed 2-33)
West Indies U-19 won by two wickets with 54 balls remaining.
Game Two:
Afghanistan U-19 145 all out in 40.1 overs (Allah Ghazanfar 37, Naseer Maroofkil 31; Aakash Chand 5-34)
Nepal U-19 149-9 in 44.4 overs (Dev Khanal 58; Faridoon Dawoodzai 3-21, Naseer Maroofkil 2-28)
Nepal U-19 won by one wicket with 32 balls remaining.
Game Three:
Bangladesh U-19 291-7 in 50 overs (Ariful Islam 103, Ahrar Amin 44; Arya Garg 3-68, Aarin Nadkarni 2-61)
USA U-19 170 all out in 47.1 overs (Prannav Chettipalayam 57, Utkarsh Srivastava 37; Mahfuzur Rahman 4-31)
Bangladesh U-19 won by 121 runs.
