A blistering half-century from all-rounder Logan van Beek set up New Zealand’s stunning last-over victory against England in the play off for seventh in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup at QEII park in Christchurch.
Set a challenging 228 to win, New Zealand got off to a rocky start with openers Tom Latham and Dane Clever dismissed within the first three overs. Craig Cachopa and Corey Anderson rebuilt the innings with a solid 100 run partnership for the fourth wicket, but after Anderson fell to a stunning outfield catch New Zealand slumped to 153 for seven.
That bought Harry Boam to the crease to partner Logan van Beek, and the pair set about bringing New Zealand within sight of victory with an eighth wicket stand of 57. Van Beek and Ben Wheeler completed the chase with some strong hitting in the final two overs.
Man of the Match van Beek, who was unbeaten on 51 from 46 balls including five boundaries, said it was always going to be tough coming in at 138 for five. “Definitely a big hill to climb, but I was confident and I just really wanted to win,” he said. “At the start I was a bit shaky, when I ran out Tom Blundell, but from there I just really wanted to win”.
Earlier England lost the toss and was put in to bat, making a steady start with openers Joe Root and Joss Butler taking a cautious approach to the New Zealand opening bowlers. Doug Bracewell and Ben Wheeler bowled an impressive opening spell with the English batsmen failing to find the boundary with any regularity.
Jack Manuel was the best of the English batsmen playing a controlled knock of 43, punishing anything wide with the majority of his seven boundaries going through the off-side.
New Zealand’s best bowler was again Tim Johnston, the talented off-break bowler taking three for 40 off and pinning the English hitters back in the middle overs. His scalps included the dangerous Ben Stokes, clean bowled by a full pitched ball just as he looked to launch his innings.
There were some useful contributions down the order from the likes of Azeem Rafiq, Paul Best and Stokes that helped the English get through to 228 for eight – a solid total but ultimately not challenging enough on QEII’s good batting strip
Bangladesh bowlers demolish PNG to set up Plate Championship final against Ireland
Bangladesh set up a Plate Championship final with Ireland in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 when it defeated Papua New Guinea (PNG) by 168 runs in Palmerston North on Tuesday.
After setting a challenging victory target of 254 runs, Bangladesh fast bowlers ripped through the PNG batting line-up, dismissing the Associate Member side for 85 inside 33 overs.
PNG never recovered from a disastrous start in its run-chase chase, losing both its openers with only 15 runs on the board. Although John Reva and Tony Ura held on tenaciously for the third wicket, the pace slowed to a crawl as the pair took 67 balls to add 33 runs.
The batsmen struggled against the medium-pace of Alauddin Babu and Shaker Ahmed’s slow left-armers, both going for less than two an over. Ura and Jason Kila shared the top score of 17 but Ura’s was an embattled, painstaking innings from 47 balls.
Man-of-the-match Nur Hossain cleaned up the order-order, taking 4-11 to go with the half-century he scored earlier in the day.
Batting first, Bangladesh was all out for 253 in 49.4 overs after a shaky start. The PNG fast bowlers claimed the wickets of both the openers early on and the continued pressure left Bangladesh tottering at 125-6.
At that stage, Tasamul Hoque and Nur fought back by putting on 80 for the sixth wicket. Hossain, batting at number-eight, top scored with 66 off 50 balls while Tasamul scored 43 off 53 balls.
Jason Kila’s off-spin troubled the Bangladesh batsmen and brought him tidy figures of 2-25, but support from the rest of the attack was slim.
In tomorrow’s feature match at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Sri Lanka will face Australia in the second Super League semi-final. The winner will meet Pakistan in Sunday’s final.
In an another Super League, India and South Africa will square-off in the fifth/sixth position play-off match at Lincoln No. 3.
In the Plate Championship, Afghanistan and the USA will go head to head in their last match in the tournament when they appear in the 15th/16th position play-off match at McLean Park in Napier, while the other tournament newcomer, Hong Kong will face Zimbabwe in the play-off for 13th spot.
Bangladesh v Papua New Guinea at Fitzherbert Park, Palmerston North (Plate Championship Semi 1)
Bangladesh 253 all out, 49.4 overs (Nur Hossain 66, Saikat Ali 61, Tasamul Hoque 43; Jason Kila 2-25, John Reva 2-55, Raymond Haoda 2-65)
Papua New Guinea 85 all out, 32.5 overs (Tony Ura 17, Jason Kila 17; Nur Hossain 4-11, Shaker Ahmed 2-7, Mahmudul Hasan 2-26)
Result: Bangladesh won by 168 runs
Man of the Match: Nur Hossain
Wednesday’s fixtures:
Super League
Australia v Sri Lanka (semi-final)
Bert Sutcliffe Oval
Umpires: Gary Baxter, Brian Jerling, Tony Hill (third)
Plate Championship
Hong Kong v Zimbabwe (13th/14th position play-off)
Nelson Park, Napier
Umpires: Buddhi Pradhan, Nadir Shah, Niels Bagh (third)
Afghanistan v USA (15th/16th position play-off)
McLean Park, Napier
Umpires: Sarika Prasad, Shahul Hameed; Owen Chirombe (third)
