England U19s stun Bangladesh

The England U19 side confounded neutral expectations in the Quarter Finals of the World Cup, shocking favourites Bangladesh by five wickets in Colombo.

England had come into the match following a defeat by Zimbabwe, whilst the Bangladeshis had easily seen off Pakistan and New Zealand – however the tables turned from the moment Andrew Miller’s double strike removed Raqibul and Saqibul Hasan to peg the Tigers back to 36 for three.

England’s spin bowlers continued where their quicker counterparts had left off, as Nick James and Graeme White strangled the Bangladeshi middle order. Mehrab Hossain limped to 11 from 50 balls before falling to skipper Moeen Ali’s medium pace, whilst White’s slow left arm leaked just eleven runs from his ten overs, five of them maidens.

Bangladesh turned to their super-sub, Sirajullah Khadim, to bat at nine with the scores precarious at 119 for seven, and he responded with 17 off as many balls before becoming one of three victims for Lancashire’s Steven Mullaney as the innings ended at 155.

Mark Stoneman fell early in England’s reply, but super-sub Mark Nelson clubbed his second ball for six, ad added two more maximums before falling to Mehrab. The pressure had, however, been lightened – and twenties from Ali and Rory Hamilton-Brown, alongside 40 from Varun Chopra, guided England to the brink of triumph, before a brace of sixes from Mullaney completed the task.

Bangladesh 155
Mushfiqur Rahim 27, Shamsur Rahman 22
Steven Mullaney 3-26, Andrew Miller 2-24

England 156-5
Varun Chopra 40, Mark Nelson 32
Suhrawadi Shuvo 2-25, Mehrab Hossain 2-33

England won by five wickets

England’s semi-final opponents will be India, who easily accounted for the West Indians in their quarter-final match. India amassed 284 for nine from their fifty overs, with a rollocking 74 from Gaurav Dhiman and a more sedate 97 from Cheteshwar Pujara the highlights. Javon Searles restored a measure of respectability for the fielding side with six for 68 as India collapsed from 209 for 1 in the 35th over.

India’s stumble was nothing compared to that which was to follow, as Dhiman (3 for 27) and Vijaykumar Yomahesh (4 for 25) reduced the run-chase to tatters at 41 for six. Opener Andre Fletcher managed 44, but with wickets tumbling around him, it left a last wicket stand of 49 to drag the West Indies to the final 126-run margin.

The second semi-final will be between Pakistan and Australia, who disposed of Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka respectively. A series of double figure tallies from the Zimbabwean lower order levered their total to 181 all out, having been 31 for three, as Anwar Ali took three wickets and Riaz Kail four. The Pakistani reply was as measured as it was efficient, adding stable partnerships for each for the five wickets to fall and coasting home with two overs to spare as Mohammad Ibrahim and Rameez Raja top-scored with twin 39s.

Australia were crushing victors over Sri Lanka in the fourth quarter final, as Moises Henriques led from the front. The Australian skipper took two of the first three wickets to fall, before returning in mid-innings and at the death to claim two further scalps. Steve Keen and left arm spinner Jack McNamara claimed tow wickets apiece as the Australian change bowlers backed up their captain and cut short a middle order recovery, ending the innings at 177.

The early loss of Usman Khawaja made no difference to the Australian reply, bringing that man Henriques to the crease once again. 21 overs later, he and Tom Cooper had added 144 runs for no further loss – striking 27 boundaries between them. Cooper fractionally out-scored his captain, 84 to 79, but Henriques’ runs came off just 60 balls, six of which cleared the ropes as they cruised to their target.

India 284 (CA Pujara 97, G Dhiman 74, JPR Searles 6-68)
beat
West Indies 158 (ADS Fletcher 44, V Yomahesh 4-25, G Dhiman 3-27)

Zimbabwe 181 (KD Samunderu 46, Riaz Kail 4-29, Anwar Ali 3-25)
lost to
Pakistan 185-5 (Mohammad Ibrahim 39, Rameez Raja 39, G Querl 2-29)

Sri Lanka 177 (PDMA Cooray 43, MC Henriques 4-22)
lost to
Australia 178-1 (TLW Cooper 84*, MC Henriques 79*)