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Dubai: A 151-run fourth wicket partnership off 122 deliveries between Ed Barnard and Ben Duckett provided 1998 champion England a solid start in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup UAE 2014 when it defeated the host United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 213 runs at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Friday.
Barnard scored 93 and Duckett contributed 83 as England scored 315 for eight in 50 overs after being asked to bat first. Barnard’s 73 balls innings was studded with 12 fours while Duckett also hit as many boundaries in an 80-ball knock as the two batsmen scored at an excess of seven runs per over. This partnership had come after openers Harry Finch (49) and Jonathan Tattersall (29) had put on 71 runs for the first wicket in 11 overs.
The UAE, in its turn at the wicket, was never in contention and was eventually bowled out for 102 in 33 overs with only captain Rohit Singh (38) and wicketkeeper-opener Shivank Vijayakumar (26) making to the double figures.
For England, Yorkshire’s 18-year-old fast bowler and captain Will Rhodes finished as the pick of bowlers with three for 14 in seven overs. He later said: “We feel ecstatic about the win. It feels fantastic to see such a good performance from the lads today. It sets the benchmark and the standards, and we’re going to try and keep it going in the next two games, which I am sure will be harder against New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
“Ed and Ben batted fantastically. Unfortunately none of them could go on and complete a century but it was a good effort from both of them.”
South Africa U-19s vs West Indies U-19s
In the other matches of the day, the West Indies let South Africa off the hook as the two-time runner-up recovered to win by 94 runs in front of Star Sports cameras at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Sri Lanka recorded a comfortable 49 runs victory over New Zealand at Sharjah Cricket Stadium and Zimbabwe completed a six-wickets victory over Canada at Abu Dhabi Oval 1.
South Africa, put into bat, had slipped from 85 for two to 117 for eight by the 37th over before it recovered to 198 for nine in 50 overs. South Africa lost three batsmen in the middle of the innings in a space of 16 balls to run outs.
However, middle-order batsman Yaseen Valli and all-rounder Justin Dill came to the rescue with a 62-run ninth wicket partnership in under nine overs. Valli was the ninth batsman out after scoring an attractive 53 off 57 balls that included five fours while Dill returned unbeaten on a 41-ball 34 which included two fours.
Dill, the 19-year-old from Port Elizabeth, was in action on the very first delivery of the West Indies’ innings when he brought off a spectacular run-out to show Tagenarine Chanderpaul the way to the dressing room. The West Indies never recovered from this shock when it was first reduced to one for three, then 30 for six before it was sent packing for 104 in 35.2 overs.
Dill, who also returned figures of 6-2-17-2, was later declared man of the match though new ball bowler Kagiso Rabada was the most impressive bowler with figures of 8-3-14-3. Valli backed up his 53 with two wickets for four runs.
Dill later said: “It has been a good start to my tournament. I had never thought I’ll get a chance to do everything on the very first day. I’m happy with my performance and look forward to similar performances in later matches.”
South Africa captain Aiden Markram admitted his side needed to improve its batting. “A win is a win and I’ll happily take this victory but I don’t think we batted well. Yaseen and Justin managed to put runs on the board otherwise we would have been in a difficult situation. But I’m happy with the way we bounced back as we were pretty smart in the field.”
New Zealand U19 vs Sri Lanka U19
In Sharjah, Sri Lanka opener and captain Kusal Mendis missed a century by nine runs and Sadeera Samarawickrama scored 67 as Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand by 49 runs.
Batting first, Sri Lanka posted 275 for nine with Mendis’ 91 coming off 107 balls and included 11 boundaries while Samarawickrama belted six boundaries in an 81-ball innings. The two batsmen put on 97 runs for the second wicket.
New Zealand, in its target chase, was restricted to 226 for eight with captain Robert O’Donnell finishing as the top scorer with 43. For Sri Lanka, Lakshan Jayasinghe (two for 32), Binura Fernando (two for 42) and Anuk Fernando (two for 65) shared the wickets.
A satisfied Kushal later said: “It would have been good to start the tournament with a century but I’m happy that I was able to contribute in my team’s success. It was a good wicket to bat on and the top order laid the foundation of a score which was easily defendable.”
