England whip Bangladesh

Queenstown , January 18

Skipper Harry Brook led from the front with an unbeaten century as England thrashed Bangladesh by seven wickets in the ICC U-19 World Cup here today. Brook remained unbeaten on 102 as England chased down a modest 176-run target in 29.3 overs, and secured a berth in the knockouts.

England didn’t get off to a great start as opener Tom Banton was caught behind off pacer Qazi Onik in the fourth over. Savin Perera, the other opener, and Will Jacks also departed in quick succession as England looked in trouble at 49/3 in the 10th over.

Brook, however, put together an unbeaten 128-run stand with Euan Woods to carry England across the line. Woods remained unbeaten on 48 runs off 57 deliveries, with four hits to the fence.

Earlier, Bangladesh suffered a spectacular top-order collapse to be dismissed for 175 runs in 49.2 overs. Opting to bat first, Bangladesh lost their top four batsmen within the first nine overs with just 27 runs on the board. A half-century by Afif Hossain was the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal show by the Bangladesh batsmen. Hossian scored 63 runs off 85 balls and was involved in a 94-run stand with Aminul Islam before both were dismissed by England off-spinner Woods in the 32nd over. Woods ended up with figures of 3/26, while Ethan Bamber picked 3/19.

England have four points now and have secured a spot in the next round.

India face Zimbabwe

Having already secured a spot in the quarterfinals,  a confident India will aim to continue their winning run when they face Zimbabwe in their final Group B tie here on Friday. The three-time champions are on a roll, having thrashed past champions Australia by 100 runs in their opener, and then outclassing minnows Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets in the second game.

India's top-order batsmen, led by skipper Prithvi Shaw, are in sublime form and are yet to be tested.  The batsmen are expected to make merry against Zimbabwe's attack, plundered by the Australians during their seven-wicket win on Wednesday.

India's bowling unit looks a complete package with fast bowlers Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi impressing everyone with their raw pace. It would be interesting to see if coach Rahul Dravid fields both of them agianst Zimbabwe, or keeps them fresh for the quarterfinals.

Vidarbha bowler Aditya Thakare, called as a cover for an injured Ishan Porel, might get a chance. Porel is nursing a bruised left heal and was replaced by Arshdeep Singh in the match against PNG. — PTI

BRIEF SCORES 

Bangladesh: 175 all (Afif Hossain 63; Ethan Bamber 3/19, Euan Woods 3/26); South Africa: 177/3 in 29.3 overs (Harry Brook 102*, Euan Woods 48*)  n Namibia: (Louwrens 38; Gill 4/43); Canada: 197/6 (Arslan 72, Gill 52, Kevin 50*)