U19 World Cup 2018, Day 15- Round-up

The fifteenth day of the ICC U19 World Cup in New Zealand has been a witness to three games being played at Queenstown, Lincoln and Rangiora. Bangladesh and England locked horns at Queenstown for the 5th place play-off game. Both teams crashed out after defeats against India and Australia respectively.

England managed to beat Bangladesh in a group match by a massive margin. However, Bangladesh avenged their loss with a thumping five-wicket victory against Harry Brook’s boys. England lost an early wicket but stormed back with a 126-run stand between Liam Banks and Harry Brooks. Nevertheless, they lost wickets in quick succession and collapsed for 216 runs.

Hasan Mahmud and Afif Hossain snapped three wickets each for Bangladesh. The chase was pretty comfortable for Saif Hassan’s boys as they romped home with 15 balls to spare. Afif Hossain top-scored with 71 runs while the skipper scored 59 runs. Afif Hossain was declared the Man of the Match for his all-round performance.

Canada and Zimbabwe faced off in an 11th place play-off game at Rangiora. Zimbabwe comprehensively won the game by 138 runs. Zimbabwe put a respectable score of 272 on the board after winning the toss and electing to bat first. Wesley Madhevere top-scored for them, but tantalisingly missed out on a century. Canada was awry during their run-chase and slumped alarmingly.

Akash Gill, Canada U19s maiden century-maker in Youth ODIs, tried his heart out with a breezy knock of 60 runs off 63 balls, but couldn’t save his team from the hefty defeat. Madhevere picked up four wickets to halt Canada’s progress. Sri Lanka and Windies competed in the Plate Final at Lincoln and the game turned out to be a cliffhanger.

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to have a crack at the Windies batsmen. Windies racked up 254 runs courtesy Alick Athanaze scored a brilliant knock of 110 runs at a run-a-ball and also stitched a 102-run stand with Brad Barnes. Dhananjaya Lakshan and Hasitha Boyagoda notched a humongous opening wicket-stand of 218 runs at got Lankans with touching distance.

When the stand was broken, Lankans required 37 runs off 12 overs. However, wickets fell in heaps thereafter and Windies stormed back into the game. A couple of run outs didn’t help Sri Lanka’s cause either. The game went right down to the wire and the Lankans eventually crawled home by three wickets and won the Final.

Brief Scores  

England vs Bangladesh, 5th place Play-off, Queenstown

England 216 all out in 47.2 overs; Liam Banks 74, Harry Brook 66; Afif Hossain 3/18, Hasan Mahmud 3/29

Bangladesh 220/5 in 47.3 overs; Afif Hossain 71, Saif Hassan 59; Adam Finch 2/36, Prem Sisodiya 1/32

Bangladesh beat England by five wickets

Player of the Match: Afif Hossain

Zimbabwe vs Canada, 11th place Play-off, Rangiora

Zimbabwe 272/8 in 50 overs; Wesley Madhevere 93, Dion Myers 46; Faisal Jamkhandi 2/65, Aran Pathmanathan 1/29

Canada 134 all out in 37.5 overs; Akash Gill 60, Arslan Khan 24; Wesley Madhevere 4/24, Nkosilathi Nungu 2/14

Zimbabwe beat Canada by 138 runs

Player of the Match: Wesley Madhevere

Windies v Sri Lanka, Plate Final

Windies 254/5 in 50 overs; Alick Athanaze 110*, Brad Barnes 37*; Praveen Jayawickrama 2/33, Nipun Malinga 2/63

Sri Lanka 255/7 in 49.4 overs; Hasitha Boyagoda 116, Dhananjaya Lakshan 98; Bhaskar Yadram, Jarion Hoyte 2/44

Sri Lanka beat Windies by three wickets  

Player of the Match: Hasitha Boyagoda