Minnows fought for consolidation wins while South Africa U19 booked their place in quarter finals and nearly shut the quarter finals door for Srilanka U19.
Group A: Ireland U19 185/8 defeated Nepal U19 171 by 14 runs
Dockrell continues to impressive one and all with his performances. England watching?
Having lost out in quarter finals qualification chance, Ireland U19 and Nepal U19 took the stage to decide who is better than other. As expected Ireland U19 who nearly had host and tournament favourites Australia U19 on the mat yesterday, came out on top. After opting to bat first, Ireland U19 struggled initially as they lost their top 3 players in first 10 overs itself. Like yesterday, Ireland U19 middle order trio of McBrine, Getkate and Kane came to rescue the team. GetKate top scored with 47 runs, who along with McBrine (41 runs) put on solid 71 runs partnership for 4th wicket. With some handy support from tail enders, Kane took the team total to 185 at the end of 50 overs. Kane remained not out till the end with 39 runs from 49 balls. For Nepal U19, four of their five premium bowlers took 2 wickets each.
In the chase, Nepal U19 struggled to forge a single solid partnership. Their best partnership was 37 runs for 6th wicket between captain Baskota and Airee. The lower order lead by Vishvakarma, who top scored for Nepal U19 with 32 runs delayed the victory for Ireland U19 team as they added 42 runs for last 3 wickets. Irish left arm spinner Dockrell impressed again today with 4 wickets and helped his team to pin down Nepal U19 team in the tight chase.
Group B: Afghanistan U19 191 defeated Scotland U19 181 by 10 runs
In the another minnows encounter of the day, Afghanistan U19 came out top against Scotland U19 team. Afghanistan U19 captain Javed Ahmadi played brilliantly after opting to bat first. Although wickets continued to tumble at other end, Javed was batting like he was playing against different team and conditions. Fast bowler Gavin Main ended Javed’s dream batting for 71 runs. Just when it seemed they will bundle out cheaply, keeper Khan rallied the team and made a fighting 41 runs. Smith and Gavin Main took 4 wickets each as Afghanistan U19 got bowled out for 191.
Scotland U19 began the chase well despite losing a wicket in second over of the innings. They were on course to win the match with 136/3 from 35 overs but combination of brain freeze and poor communication ensured them a lose. There was as many as four run outs in Scotland U19 innings. They lost 6 wickets for just 22 runs actually. Opener McLean top scored for Scotland with 67 runs. Javed Ahmed, who scored 71 runs and also bowled a tight spell conceding just 29 runs from 10 overs was rightly given the player of the match award.
Group D: South Africa U19 153/6 defeated Sri Lanka U19 150 by 4 wickets
Tharanga’s fighting 50 in vain as Sri Lankan U19 team quarter final hopes hangs in thread.
In the all important match of the day and group C, Sri Lankan U19 went down fight against impressive South African U19 team. After been asked to bat first, Sri Lankan U19 team crumbled to 73/8 against hostile South African U19 bowling attack. Tharanga played the typical bowler attacking knock to the near perfection. Last two wickets added 77 runs, which is more than what entire 8 wickets managed. Tharanga scored an unbeaten 50 as Sri Lanka U19 finished with a fighting total of 150. Adrian Dry took four wickets for South Africa U19 in bowling.
South African U19 batting which so far murdered the opponent bowlers, was finally put to test today. They lost last match centurion Kock for 5 runs and Pillay for duck, but captain Bowes and Bruyn counter attacked to take the control of the match. The pair added 80 runs from just 82 balls for the 3rd wicket. Just when it looked all over, Kaushal removed both Bowes and Bruyn in one over, and took one more in his penultimate over. But the target is too little to make a dramatic come back for Sri Lankan U19 team. South Africa U19 chased down the target in 33 overs for the lose of 6 wickets and booked their place in quarter finals.
With this loss, Sri Lanka U19 team quarter finals hope rest on Namibia U19 to pull off a miracle win against Bangladesh U19 tomorrow.
Tags: Adrian Dry took 4 wickets for South Africa U19, Bowes top scores for South Africa U19, George Dockrell impresses again with 4 wickets, Ireland left arm spinner George Dockrell, Ireland U19 and Afghanistan U19 get their first win in 2012 U19 world cup, South Africa U19 qualifies for quarter finals, Sri Lanka U19 almost knocked out of quarter final chance, Tharanga's 50 in vain, U19 world cup 2012, U19 world cup 2012 at Australia, Under 19 Cricket World Cup
