In a somewhat dull day, West Indies U19 and India U19 spice up the U19 world cup with intense battle.

Group A: England U19 113/3 beat Ireland U19 109 by 7 wickets

In first of many one sided encounters, England U19 took on Ireland U19 in their second group match. As expected, they proved too hot for emerging Ireland U19 batsmen’s to handle. England U19 team bowlers lead by Topley gave so much trouble for Ireland U19 players as they are despite batting for 42.2 overs, managed to score just 109 runs. Apart from Dockrell and Kane, no one from Ireland U19 team offered any fight back to English bowlers.

England U19 began their chase poorly by losing both openers cheaply, raising the hopes for a miracle win to Ireland U19 like their senior team done in the past. But Foakes (32 run) erased any such hopes in company with solid Overton who stood like rock till the end. Kapil 31* and Overton 26* stayed till the end and took them to victory in 36.2 overs.

Group B: West Indies U19 167/6 defeated India U19 166/8 by 4 wickets

All round Mayers takes West Indies to victory as India rue their chances.

Although they are not in group of death, West Indies and Indian U19 teams had everything to play for today. The former had to prove worthy of all their pre-tournament praises and later need to show they still got enough to become world champions again. Toss matters all in these Australian conditions and West Indies U19 won it straightaway. After been asked to bat, Indian U19 battled hard throughout their 50 over stay in the crease. Indian U19 batsmen prospered with good defense but struggled to rotate strike and manipulate the opponent bowlers. Indian batting main stays, Unmukt Chand for 22 runs and Vijay Zol for 26 runs are guilty of throwing away wickets after doing all the initial hard work. Luckily India found their hero of the day in Samit Patel. Samit batted brilliantly as he not only scored fighting 51 but also stayed nearly till the end, helping India U19 to score 166 runs for the lose of 8 wickets.

In reply, West Indies were off to a poor start as they lost their captain and experienced Brathwaite for just 13 runs in the board. India’s two seam attack proved to be the mistake as after good initial spell from Sandeep and Rush, there was no one to back up the good work. Campbell and Alleyne made full use of it in their crucial 58 run 3rd wicket stand.  Despite being alien conditions, India U19 spinners Harmeet, Aparajith and Vikas Mishra bowled brilliantly in tandem to cause problems as ball got older. India had their chance but poor fielding (3 catches dropped and not so intense in the field) means, they let it drift away. Thanks to big man Mayers, West Indies U19 crossed over the hops in the end. Mayers who not only took 2 wickets with ball, scored attacking 43 with bat is named as the player of the match.

Group C: New Zealand U19 247/9 defeated  U19 208 by 39 runs

In what was billed as dead rubber, fighting Scotland U19 made a match out of it. Black caps skipper Young century (115) helped New Zealand to pose 247 runs after being asked to bat first. Young also became the first to score a century in the ongoing U19 world cup at Australia. In reply, Coleman (65 runs) fought single handily for Scotland U19 but New Zealand U19 hung on to their opportunities and claimed a good win.

Group D: South Africa U19 294 defeated Bangladesh U19 161 by 133 runs

South Africa U19 begins their world cup campaign with a thumbing win against underdogs Bangladesh U19. Despite being asked to bat first, South Africa U19  crushed Bangladesh U19 attack. Keeper Kock was at his best today. He murdered the bowlers with 2 sixes and 9 boundaries in his knock of 95 runs from 93 balls. Later, SA U19 lower order piled on the runs towards the end as they posted a mammoth 294 runs. In reply, Bangladesh U19 just couldn’t get any momentum going against superior SA U19 bowling attack. Superb all-round display saw SA U19 getting a massive win by 133 runs. This huge win might prove vital for SA U19 and fatal for Ban U19 in their quarter final chances.

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