January 18 saw England, South Africa and Afghanistan clinch comprehensive wins over Canada, Uganda and Papua New Guinea, respectively, in the ICC U-19 World Cup 2022. The Three Lions took a giant leap towards the knock-outs, while the Proteas regained the winning ways and Afghanistan got on board with a victory.
In the Group A encounter played in St Kitts, England came out on top versus Canada by 106 runs after posting a mammoth 320/7 on the board in the first half. England were put into bat after losing the toss, a decision that they made Canada regret, thanks to skipper Tom Prest’s 93, backed up by half-centuries from George Thomas (52) and George Bell (57).
93 runs off 93 balls ⚡
— Hampshire Cricket (@hantscricket) January 19, 2022
3️⃣-3️⃣8️⃣ off 9.1 overs 👊
Our Tom Prest won Player of the Match as England U19s beat Canada by 106 runs yesterday 😍 pic.twitter.com/1Ic8AUwika
Kairav Sharma (3/51) and Sheel Patel (2/52) were the pick of the bowlers for Canada, but the rest of the attack left a lot to be desired – which meant that their batters were under huge pressure during the run-chase.
England bowlers – captain Prest (3/38), Joshua Boyden (4/44) and Jacob Bethell (3/45) – never allowed the Canadian batters to get going as they eventually succumbed to a massive defeat, making only 214 in response. Lower-order batter Gurnek Johal Singh was their top-scorer with an innings of 44.
In Group B, South Africa overcame their defeat versus India by asserting their dominance over fellow African rivals Uganda. In a relatively low-scoring fixture, Proteas made 231/9 batting first but still won the game by a whopping 121-run margin.
Dewald Brevis was once again the stand-out performer with the bat for South Africa, scoring a century (104) when the next highest individual score for the innings was only 36 by captain GV Heerden. Garvis struck 11 fours and one six through his brilliant knock, which helped SA post a competitive score when things might have gotten closer.
Like in their opening game versus Ireland, Uganda had their moments. This time it was with the ball. Their skipper Pascal Murungi and Juma Miyaji bagged figures of 3/58 and 3/33, respectively, while Joseph Baguma (1/29), Yunusu Sowobi (1/40) and Edwin Nuwagaba (1/26) picked up a wicket apiece.
In the run-chase, however, Uganda crumbled to just 110 all out, not able to withstand the more experienced bowling unit under pressure. In a collective effort by South Africans, all of their bowlers contributed to the win in some form or shape. But the stand-outs were Aphiwe Mnyanda (2/24), Liam Alder (2/13) and Dewald Brevis (2/18), who picked up two wickets each.
In a disappointing scorecard, only Isaac Ategeka (29), Fahad Mutagana (16) and Cyrus Kakuru (10) were able to enter the double digits for Uganda U19s.
Afghanistan made a winning start to the World Cup, defeating Papua New Guinea in Group C by 135 runs in Diego Martin. PNG had a spirited bowling performance in the first half where they dismissed their opponents for just 200 runs. But then an insipid batting act, getting bundled out for only 65, rained on their parade.
Afghanistan had an indifferent first-innings, as their top and lower orders struggled. Thankfully they were saved through knocks of substance in the middle-order by captain Suliman Safi (62), Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai (45) and Khaiber Wali (30).
PNG used eight bowlers, but Katenalaki Singi (4/18), Rasan Kevau (3/23) and Aue Oru (2/15) were their best performers.
Papua New Guinea were slight favourites at the halfway mark before it all fell apart in a disappointing run-chase where only one of their batters – Aue Oru (13) – entered the double digits. Izharulhaq Naveed (3/14) finished with the best figures among the Afghanistan bowlers.
