Alzarri Joseph’s hostile spell of fast bowling earned him four wickets as West Indies clinched a thriller in Chittagong © International Cricket Council
Group C
West Indies Under-19 edged out Zimbabwe Under-19 in controversial circumstances in Chittagong to enter the quarter-final. Keemo Paul, having three runs to defend off the final over with one wicket standing, effected a mankad on Richard Ngarava, whose bat was on the line when the bails were broken. As the match officials converged, West Indies captain Shimron Hetmyer asked the umpires to uphold the decision before the third umpire was called-in. That left Kundai Matigimu stranded on 10 at the other end as Zimbabwe fell two short of a sensational win.
The tense result looked a far cry, though, when Zimbabwe were cruising at 143 for 3, with Shaun Snyder doing the early running with a belligerent 52 in reply to West Indies’ 226 for 9 achieved largely on the back of Shamar Springer’s sprightly 61 in the middle.
That West Indies were in with a chance at the end was courtesy Alzarri Joseph’s hostile bursts of fast bowling. After picking up two wickets at the top, he returned to dismiss the well-set William Mashinge (23) and Brandon Mavuta (1) off successive overs as Zimbabwe lost three wickets for four runs to hurtle the chase. He finished with career-best figures of 4 for 30.
With the space spearhead having completed his quota, Adam Keefe, who made a 47-ball 43, scripted a turnaround. His combative 62-run stand for the seventh wicket with Wesley Madhevere (21) helped Zimbabwe claw back into the contest, before they lost two more to take the game into a thrilling final over that brought out two contrasting ends of the emotional spectrum.
Group A
Bangladesh Under-19‘ spin trio of Saleh Ahmed Shawon (2 for 10), Mehedi Hasan Miraz (2 for 12) and Ariful Islam (2 for 9) helped dismiss Namibia U-19 for a paltry 65, after which Joyraz Sheik (34*) took the hosts home to seal an easy eight-wicket win in Cox’s Bazar.
Put in to bat, Namibia’s innings never gained momentum as they lost half their side for 51 by the 21st over. Niko Davin (19) and Lohan Louwrens (17) were the only Namibia batsmen to make double-digit scores, as none of the other batsmen managed more than five runs.
After dismissing Namibia in 32.5 overs, Bangladesh faltered early in their chase, losing both openers by the fifth over for 13 runs. Joyraz then came in and took charge of the innings with a patient knock. Joyraz and Nazmul Hossain Shanto, ensured no other Bangladesh wickets fell, finishing the chase in 16 overs. The victory put Bangladesh on top of Group A, having won all three games, while Namibia also qualified for the quarter-finals after beating South Africa and Scotland.
Scotland Under-19 were handed a ten-wicket drubbing by South Africa Under-19 in an inconsequential bottom-of-the-table Group A clash at Cox’s Bazar.
Choosing to field, South Africa started well by not allowing any of Scotland’s top five to score more than 15. Finlay McCreath then played out 61 balls for 24 runs, but fell in the 27th over as Scotland slumped to 67 for 6. Harris Carnegie lifted Scotland to 127 before they were dismissed with an unbeaten 48-ball 29 that included four fours. For South Africa, Dayyaan Galiem, Wiaan Mulder and Sean Whitehead ended with returns of 2 for 16. Tony de Zorzi claimed 2 for 20.
South Africa eased to the total in 29 overs, as both openers Liam Smith and Kyle Verrynne smacked 64 off 87. Both batsmen hit the same number of fours as well – seven. Smith though, hit two sixes while Verrynne managed none.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo