![\"cricket](\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/cricket-bat-ball.jpg\")
Chittagong: England was on the verge of a quarter-final berth in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016 with a 61-run win over a fighting West Indies in Chittagong on Friday. The match was produced by the ICC TV and aired around the world by 15 broadcasters.<\/p>\n
England’s second successive win in Group C – it beat Fiji on Wednesday –was built around an impressive 282 for seven from 50 overs after it elected to bat first.<\/p>\n
There were two half-centuries from Dan Lawrence (55) and Callum Taylor (59), and useful contributions from George Bartlett (48) and Sam Curran (39).<\/p>\n
The West Indies made a strong comeback after Curran had taken two wickets in the first over, but was bowled out for 221 in the 44th over.<\/p>\n
Gidron Pope (60) put on 82 runs for the third wicket with Keacy Carty (22) before Keemo Paul took the fight into the rival camp with a pugnacious 65 off 58 balls.<\/p>\n
Lawrence followed his half-century with two wickets to be adjudged the player of the match, but the bowling honours went to seamer Saqib Mahmood who claimed four for 42.<\/p>\n
“It got a bit nervous out there when their partnerships were going, but in the end it was a comfortable win,” said England captain Brad Taylor.<\/p>\n
“I think the seamers did a great job in conditions that did not favour them, but the spinners allowed us to get a lot of dot balls. Everyone held their nerves in what was a good win.”<\/p>\n
England need a point in its last match against Zimbabwe on Sunday to finish as group leader.<\/p>\n
West Indies captain Shimron Hetmyer said the poor start set his team back. “We needed a good start to chase a total like that but we lost two wickets in the first over,” he said. “Keemo and Pope batted well and that is a positive we can take.”<\/p>\n
The West Indies needs to win both its remaining matches convincingly to march into the Super League stage.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe began its campaign in Group C by cruising to a seven-wicket win over Fiji, sending the first-timer to its second successive defeat.<\/p>\n
Off-spinner Wesley Madhevere grabbed five for 24 as Fiji was shot out for 81 in 27.4 overs, a score Zimbabwe surpassed in the 19th over with Brendan Sly remaining unbeaten on 29.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe takes on England in its second league match on Sunday, needing a win to strengthen its chances of progressing to the Super League quarter-finals, while Fiji clashes with the West Indies on the same day.<\/p>\n
Namibia made a creditable start in Group A with a surprisingly easy nine-wicket rout of Scotland to keep its dream alive of making the Super League quarter-finals for the first time.<\/p>\n
Namibia, whose best-ever finish in the tournament was 11th place in 2008 and had lost both its warm-up matches in Bangladesh, made short work of Scotland in a one-sided contest.<\/p>\n
The Scots were reduced to 129 for nine after electing to bat, before a last-wicket partnership of 30 between Scott Cameron and Mohammad Ghaffar lifted them to 159 all out. Michael van Lingen took three wickets.<\/p>\n
Nambia eased past the target in 26 overs following an opening stand of 95 between SJ Loftie-Eaton (67 not out) and Niko Davin (52). Skipper Zane Green was unbeaten on 39.<\/p>\n
Despite the early success, the Namibians will still need to win one of their two remaining matches against South Africa and host Bangladesh to ensure a place in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
“It was a good team performance all-round,” said Green. “We started good with the bat and finished well with the ball. We really look forward to our other matches now.”<\/p>\n
Scotland’s captain Neil Flack said he was disappointed at the defeat, but vowed to bounce back.<\/p>\n
“We had a bad day, but credit to Namibia. It made us pay,” said Flack. “Our plans did not come through with the bat. We played a few silly shots. But trust me, we will bounce back.<\/p>\n
“Cricket is a funny game, anything can happen. We are determined to make a strong comeback.”<\/p>\n
Scotland must defeat both Bangladesh and South Africa to qualify.<\/p>\n
The 11th edition of the biennial 16-nation tournament features nine Test-playing nations and seven Associate and Affiliate Members – Afghanistan, Canada, Fiji, Namibia, Nepal, Ireland and Scotland.<\/p>\n
Teams have been divided into four groups with the top two in each advancing to the Super League quarter-finals and the other two qualifying for the Plate championships.<\/p>\n
Scores in brief:<\/strong><\/p>\n Group A – Namibia beat Scotland by nine wickets in Cox’s Bazar Group C – Zimbabwe beat Fiji by seven wickets in Chittagong Group C – England beat the West Indies by 61 runs in Chittagong England’s second successive win in Group C – it beat Fiji on Wednesday –was built around an impressive 282 for seven from 50 overs after it elected to bat first.<\/p>\n There were two half-centuries from Dan Lawrence (55) and Callum Taylor (59), and useful contributions from George Bartlett (48) and Sam Curran (39).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[14119,4744,14057,14118,13596,14122,14120,13833,13720,14121],"class_list":["post-25398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world-cricket-news","tag-callum-taylor","tag-cricket-news","tag-dan-lawrence","tag-england-vs-west-indies","tag-icc-u19-cricket-world-cup-2016","tag-namibia-vs-scotland","tag-saqib-mahmood","tag-shimron-hetmyer","tag-u19-cricket","tag-zimbabwe-vs-fiji"],"yoast_head":"\n
Scotland 159 all out, 36.3 overs (Owais Shah 39, Haris Aslam 31; Michael van Lingen 3-19)
Namibia 162-1, 26 overs (SJ Loftie-Eaton 67 not out, Niko Davin 52, Zane Green 39 not out)<\/p>\n
Fiji 81 all out, 27.4 overs (Wesley Madhevere 5-24, Blessing Mavuta 3-13)
Zimbabwe 84-3, 18.5 overs (Brendan Sly 29 not out, Jeremy Ives 23)<\/p>\n
England 282-7, 50 overs (Dan Lawrence 55, Callum Taylor 59, George Bartlett 48, Sam Curran 39; Gidron Pope 2-45)
West Indies 221 all out, 43.4 overs (Gidron Pope 60, Keemo Paul 65; Saqib Mahmood 4-42, Sam Curran 2-23, Dan Lawrence 2-38)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chittagong: England was on the verge of a quarter-final berth in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016 with a 61-run win over a fighting West Indies in Chittagong on Friday. The match was produced by the ICC TV and aired around the world by 15 broadcasters.<\/p>\n