England beat Windies to step closer to quarters of Under-19 World Cup

England overcame an inspired West Indies fightback in a Group C match to edge closer to a quarter-final berth at the U-19 World Cup.

>>IANS/bdnews24.com
Published : 29 Jan 2016, 02:01 PM
Updated : 29 Jan 2016, 02:01 PM

The 61-run victory was England's second successive win after they beat Fiji on Wednesday.

They posted an impressive 282 for 7 from 50 overs after electing to bat at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Friday.

The total was built around half-centuries from Dan Lawrence (55) and Callum Taylor (59), and useful contributions from George Bartlett (48) and Sam Curran (39).

The West Indies made a strong comeback after Curran had taken two wickets in the first over, but were bowled out for 221 in the 44th over.

Gidron Pope (60) put on 82 runs for the third wicket with Keacy Carty (22) before Keemo Paul took the fight into the rival camp with a pugnacious 65 off 58 balls.

Lawrence followed his half-century with two wickets to be adjudged the player of the match, but the England seamer Saqib Mahmood was the best bowler in the game with 4 for 42.

"It got a bit nervous out there when their partnerships were going, but in the end it was a comfortable win," England captain Brad Taylor said after the match.

"I think the seamers did a great job in conditions that did not favour them, but the spinners allowed us to get a lot of dot balls. Everyone held their nerves in what was a good win."

Needing one point to top the group, England will play against Zimbabwe in their last group match on Sunday.

West Indies captain Shimron Hetmyer said the poor start set his team back. "We needed a good start to chase a total like that but we lost two wickets in the first over," he said.

"Keemo and Pope batted well and that is a positive we can take."

The West Indies need to win both their remaining matches convincingly to march into the Super League stage.