U-19 WC: Hill, Qadri excel as England rout Nigeria

KIMBERLEY: England allrounder George Hill, playing his first game of the Under-19 World Cup, finished with figures of 4 for 12 to help England bowl Nigeria out for 58 in 27.5 overs in the final Group D game at Kimberley. England, for whom this was their first win of the tournament, won by eight wickets with opener Sam Young finishing the game off with a six, as England racing to 64 for 2 in just 11 overs.

Nigeria had opted to bat first, but the England seamers reduced them to 19 for 3 early. A 23-run fourth-wicket then took Nigeria past the forties, but then offspinner Hamidullah Qadri, who also took four wickets, and medium-pacer Hill bowled them out soon after. Nigeria captain Sylvester Okpe top-scored with 16.

Young was brisk in England's pursuit of 59, crunching five fours and two sixes in his 33-ball 39, while Hil, who batted at No.4, was not out on 7 when the winning runs were hit. Both teams will move to the Plate League stage of the tournament, having failed to come in the top two of their group. West Indies topped the group, with Australia finishing second.

Four days after being bowled out for 41 by India, Japan slumped to 43 all out in their final Group A match, against Sri Lanka. In a match reduced to 22 overs a side, Sri Lanka chose to bowl, and took just 18.3 overs to rattle through Japan's line-up, and only 8.3 to complete their chase.

None of the Japan batsmen got into double figures, their No. 4 Debashish Sahoo coming closest with 9. Four Sri Lanka bowlers - Dilshan Madushanka, Sudeera Thilakaratne, Ashian Daniel and Navod Paranavithana - took two wickets each, with the other two coming via run-outs. Paranavithana fell early in Sri Lanka's chase, before Mohammad Shamaz and Ravindu Rasantha steered their side home with an unbroken partnership of 38. The result confirmed that New Zealand - whose match against Japan didn't produce a result - joined India in the quarter-finals.

Zimbabwe beat Scotland to notch their first win of the Under-19 World Cup, with Tadiwanashe Marumani leading the way. The opener smashed 85 off just 55 balls, including 12 fours and 4 sixes, as Zimbabwe won by eight wickets in just 17.1 overs after keeping Scotland to 140 all out.

Put in to bat, Scotland were in deep trouble at 42 for 5 with the top five all back in the hut, but a lower middle-order rally prevented a complete rout. Allrounder Kess Sajjad made 68 off 71 from No.7, and was the last wicket to fall. He shared a 66-run stand for the sixth wicket with Daniel Cairns (28), and did the bulk of the scoring all through his time at the crease.

Brief scores:

England vs Nigeria: England Under-19s 64 for 2 (Young 39*) beat Nigeria Under-19s 58 (Hill 4-12, Qadri 4-24) by eight wickets.

Sri Lanka vs Japan: Sri Lanka Under-19s 47 for 1 (Rasantha 19*) beat Japan Under-19s 43 (Paranavithana 2-2, Daniel 2-11, Madushanka 2-12, Thilakaratne 2-13) by nine wickets.

Zimbabwe vs Scotland: Zimbabwe Under-19s 146 for 2 (Marumani 85, Shumba 37*) beat Scotland Under-19s 140 (Cairns 28, Sajjad 68, Ndlela 4-27, Myers 2-21, Nyangani 2-29) by eight wickets.