The West Indies’ decision to base themselves in Australia for an extended period prior to the start of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012 provided an immediate outcome on Sunday, with an impressive four wickets victory over India in a Group C fixture at Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville, Queensland. The Caribbean crew was unbeaten in four warm-up games in Brisbane before heading to Townsville and showed the value of a strong batting line-up and a fast bowling attack that is relishing the bouncy pitches in Queensland. Meanwhile, in the other matches of the day, South Africa got its tournament underway in similar fashion by overcoming Bangladesh by 133 runs in Brisbane, New Zealand did not miss a beat against qualifier Scotland by winning its Group B match by 39 runs, and England bounced back from Saturday’s defeat to Australia to beat Ireland by seven wickets in a Group C match in Townsville.
Scores in brief:
Group A – England beat Ireland by seven wickets, Endeavour Park 1. Ireland 109 all out, 42.2 overs (Tyrone Kane 28, George Dockrell 26; Reece Topley 3-14). England 113 for three, 36.2 overs (Ben Foakes 32, Aneesh Kapil 31 not out, Craig Overturn 26 not out). Player of the match – Reece Topley (England)
Group B – New Zealand beat Scotland by 39 runs at John Blanck Oval, Sunshine Coast. New Zealand 247 for nine, 50 overs (Will Young 115, Robert O’Donnell 50; Ruaidhri Smith 3-34, Aman Bailwal 2-53, Patrick Sadler 2-55). Scotland 208 all out, 46.5 overs (Freddie Coleman 65, Ross McLean 36; Connor Neynens 3-24, Ish Sodhi 3-35, Henry Walsh 2-51). Player of the match – Will Young (New Zealand)
Group C – West Indies beat India by six wickets at Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville. India 166 for eight, 50 overs (Smit Patel 51, Vijay Zol 26, Unmukt Chand 22; Ronsford Beaton 3-33, Jerome Jones 2-23, Kyle Mayers 2-35). West Indies 167 for six, 47.1 overs (Anthony Alleyne 52, Kyle Mayers 43, John Campbell 36; Harmeet Singh 3-35, Sandeep Sharma 2-27. Player of the match – Kyle Mayers (West Indies)
Group D – South Africa beat Bangladesh by 133 runs at Allan Border Field, Brisbane. South Africa 294 for eight, 50 overs (Quinton de Kock 95, Thenuis de Bruyn 63, Murray Coetzee 29, Shaylin Pillay 27; Noor Hossain 3-44, Nasum Ahmed 3-45). Bangladesh 161 all out, 34.3 overs (Anamul Haque 39, Al-Amin 33, Nurul Hasan 27; Vincent Moore 3-44, Shaylin Pillay 2-4, Corne Dry 2-34). Player of the match – Quinton de Kock (South Africa).
