U-19 WC: B’desh, England make winning start

QUEENSTOWN: Will Jacks and Harry Brook struck unbeaten half-centuries to help England ease past Namibia in their ICC Under-19 World Cup clash at the Events Centre here on Monday. Set 197, England cantered past it in just 24.1 overs losing only two wickets.

Opting to bat, Namibia got off to a steady start with Jurgen Linde (16) and Lohandre Louwrens (24) scoring 42 for the first wicket in 9.4 overs. Once the former was dismissed, Shaun Fouche, who top scored with a 75-ball 44, tried to hold the innings together as wickets continued to tumble.

From 42 for no loss, Namibia slipped to 97 for 4 with Luke Hollman inflicting a double blow. As the pressure continued to mount, Namibia failed to get the innings back on track and ended with a below-par score with Hollman ending with three wickets.

In reply, Savin Perera and Tom Banton, the openers, collaborated to score 55 for the first wicket to get the innings going. However, Namibia found ways to dismiss both of them to leave England at 68 for 2. Jacks and Brook then scored unbeaten 130 for the third wicket to ensure England started their campaign with a win.

Brief scores: Namibia 196/9 in 50 overs (Shaun Fouche 44; Luke Hollman 3-41) lost to England 198/2 in 24.1 overs (Will Jacks 73*, Harry Brook 59*) by 8 wickets.

Bangladesh vs Canada: Bangladesh consolidated their position at the top of the Group B table with their second win. After their 87-run win over Namibia, they sealed a 66-run win over Canada at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval. Batting first, Towhid Hridoy hammered 122 as Bangladesh posted 264 for 8. In reply, Canada fought hard with Arslan Khan making 63 but could only manage 198 all out. Sent in, Pinak Ghosh was dismissed in the second over while Saif Hassan was dismissed soon after as Bangladesh were left at 29 for 2. Hridoy and Mohammad Naim (47) added 68 for the third wicket before the latter fell to Rommel Shahzad.

Hridoy found another able partner in Afif Hossain (50) as the duo went on to score 111 for the fourth wicket to take the team past 200. Faisal Jamkhandi did the most damage with the ball, picking up 5 for 48, but Hridoy’s ton meant Bangladesh ended with a challenging total.

The Canada batting line-up just about managed to keep the team afloat but the low scoring rate meant the pressure kept mounting. There were handy contributions from Pranav Sharma (34), Kevin Singh (24) and Kavian Naress (26) but none of them stayed long enough to threaten Bangladesh.Brief scores: Bangladesh 264/8 in 50 overs (Towhid Hridoy 122; Faisal Jamkhandi 5-48) beat Canada 198 in 49.3 overs (Arslan Khan 63; Afif Hossain 5-43) by 66 runs.