Mumbai, Aug 24: Sri Lanka, Scotland, Bangladesh and England won their respective matches at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2012 today.
Sri Lanka successfully chased down 195 to register a seven-wicket win over Afghanistan in the Plate Final at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane.
They restricted Afghanistan to 194, after being asked to field first. Chamod Pathirana set the ball rolling with the wicket of Afghanistan skipper Javed Ahmadi (23). 26 runs later, pacer Lahiru Madushanka dismissed Shabir Noori, before picking two more wickets. Amila Aponso then dealt a double blow in the middle order by claiming two wickets for 19 runs. Tharindu Kaushal and Sandun Weerakkody chipped in with a wicket each. Afghanistan’s leading run-getter, Mohibullah Paak was run-out for 44.
After Pabasara Waduge (33) and Shehan Fernando (19) added 42 runs for the first wicket, Niroshan Dickwella took Sri Lanka past the finish line with an unbeaten 76. Angelo Jayasinghe and Weerakkody chipped in with 23 runs each as their team reached the target with 11 overs to spare.
Dickwella was adjudged Man-of-the-Match for his 110-ball for 76 (5x4;1x6).
Scotland defeated Ireland by five wickets in the 11th place play-off in Brisbane.
Ireland were restricted to 182 in 49.4 overs, after captain George Dockrell decided to bat first at the WEP Harris Oval. Ruaidhri Smith claimed three top-order Irish batsmen and Aman Bailwal also claimed three scalps. Patrick Sadler helped wrap up the tail with two wickets, while Sam Page and Kyle Smith took a wicket each. Tyrone Kane held the fort for Ireland with a valiant 78 off 121 balls before returning to the pavilion in the last over.
Led by opener Ross McLean’s 47, Scotland then comfortably chased down the target with 50 balls to spare. Middle-order batsman Nicholas Farrar saw his side home with an unbeaten 57-ball 38.
Scotland pacer Ruaidhri Smith was declared Man-of-the-Match for claiming three early wickets.
Bangladesh trounced Pakistan by five wickets in the 7th place play-off.
Put in to bat, Pakistan posted 235 for the loss of eight wickets at Endeavour Park No 2. Taskin Ahmed and Dewan Sabbir put Pakistan on the back foot with three early wickets. However, Faraz Ali (43), Mohammad Nawaz (82) and Shahid Ilyas (44), who was batting at No.8, helped revive the Pakistani innings and set the opposition a competitive target.
Although they lost opener Soumya Sarkar early, Anamul Haque ensured a Bangladesh victory with a brilliant century. The Bangladesh captain entertained with a 112-ball 128-run blitzkrieg studded with five fours and eight hits over the fence. His match-winning partnership with opener Litton Das (53 off 98 balls) was worth 179 runs. Bangladesh reached the target with 22 balls to spare.
Haque was adjudged Man-of-the-Match for his match-winning century.
England beat the West Indies by 13 runs in the 5th place play-off in Townsville.
Led by opener Sam Wood (104), the English colts posted 241 despite a disappointing performance by the rest of the batting line-up. No. 11 batsman, Reece Topley’s 26 was the second highest score for England at Endeavour Park today.
Justin Greaves, who opened the bowling for the West Indies, picked three scalps, while Kyle Mayers and Derone Davis claimed two wickets apiece.
John Campbell’s 105 went in vain as the West Indies innings was wrapped up for 228 in 48.3 overs. The Caribbean lads lost wickets at regular intervals and failed to build partnerships while chasing a competitive total. Topley took three wickets, while Brett Hutton and Wood picked two scalps apiece.
Wood received the Man-of-the-Match award for his all-round performance.
