England swamp Kiwis; Sri Lankans on a roll

Sri Lanka’s Hashan Dumindu hits a boundary during the U-19 World Cup tie against the UAE on Tuesday. — KT photo by M. Sajjad

England and Sri Lanka registered impressive wins in their ICC Under-19 World Cup Group D matches on Tuesday. While Sri Lanka posted their third consecutive victory in the tourney after defeating hosts UAE by eight wickets, England advanced to the quarter-finals stage by scoring an authentic 115-run victory over New Zealand.

Ryan Higgins smashed a composed 83 off 155 balls and guided England, who chose to bat first after winning the toss, to a competitive 229 for the loss of eight wickets at the Dubai Sports City stadium. Higgins hit five boundaries and two sixes in his patient knock, while opener Harry Finch, captain Will Rhodes (31) and wicket-keeper Joe Clarke (33) chipped in with useful contributions to boost England’s total.

Brett Randell picked up three wickets though the medium-pacer gave away 57 runs in his 10 overs, while Kyle Jamieson, Jeremy Benton, Dane Watson and Raki Weerasundara bagged one wicket apiece.

New Zealand opener Weerasundara played a calm 41 off 62 balls with the help of four boundaries, but lacked support at the other end. Medium-pacer Matthew Fisher was at his lethal best, taking 3-18 from 6.1 overs, while Jack Winslade, Rob Sayer and Rob Jones picked up two wickets each as the Kiwis were bowled out for 114 in 36.1 overs.

Meanwhile, the Lankans continued their impressive run in the tournament by scoring another comprehensive win over hosts UAE at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Shorye Chopra hit an elegant half-century and guided UAE, who elected to bat first, to 205 all out in 47.5 overs.

Though openers Shiv Mehra (22) and Dan D’Souza (23) gave a 51-run partnership for the first wicket, the hosts couldn’t capitalise on their fine start. Skipper Rohit Singh (0) was trapped in front of the wicket by Harsha Rajapaksha, who finished with impressive figures of 2-40 from his quota of 10 overs, while Binura Fernando and Anuk Fernando picked up two wickets apiece.

In-from batsman Chirag Suri made a 48-ball 24 before he was run out, while wicket-keeper Shivank Vijayakumar chipped in with a 21-ball 24 with one boundary and one six. Though many UAE batsmen got good start, they couldn’t convert into big scores and hurt the team’s chances to post a good total in Sharjah.

Chopra was the only exception as the 17-year old batsman smashed seven boundaries and one six in his delightful knock. On the other hand, Sri Lankan opener Hashan Dumindu smashed an unbeaten century to power his team to a superb victory in 43.1 overs.

Dumindu hit 11 fours and one six in his 118-ball knock, while captain Kusal Mendis (45) and Hashen Ramanayake, who remained not out on 34, added useful runs.

Pankaj Prakash was the only successful UAE bowler, as the 19-year old medium pacer finished with 1-22 from seven overs.