England extended their unbeaten run at the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup with a dominant seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the Group 2 of the Super Six.
The result helped England climb to top of Group 2, with six points from three matches as they close in on a semifinal spot.
In Group 1, Afghanistan suffered their first defeat in the competition, losing to Sri Lanka by four wickets.
Meanwhile, the USA ended their campaign on a high, inspired by an unbeaten 116 from Adnit Jhamb to a seven-wicket win over Scotland.
Here’s how the three games panned out:
ENGLAND CONTINUE DOMINANT RUN
Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bat first, but England quickly seized control of the contest.
Opener Zawad Abrar was dismissed in the first over after he slashed a shot off Sebastian Morgan and straight to the fielder at deep third man.
Rifat Beg (31 off 36) and Azizul Hakim Tamim (20 off 46) tried to steady the ship after the early blow but Bangladesh struggled to get going.
Incisive bowling and a top-notch fielding effort from England saw the opposition bundled out for 136 in 38.1 overs.
Lower down the order, Md Abdullah was the only one to offer some resistance, as he scored 25 off 34 balls.
For England, Morgan was the pick of the bowlers, as he claimed three wicket for 28 runs from his quota of seven overs.
Left-arm spinner Ralphie Albert and medium pacer Manny Lumsden captured two wickets each.
Bangladesh did manage the early wicket of Joseph Moores, but they did not have enough runs on the board to make a match of it.
England chased down the modest total in 24.1 overs, with seven wickets to spare.
Thomas Rew led the chase from the front, scoring a quickfire 59 not out.
Caleb Falconer sealed the win with a sweep for four, marking England's fourth win in a row.
They will next take on New Zealand on Friday.
SRI LANKDA EDGE OUT AFGHANISTAN
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first in Windhoek, Namibia. Their decision paid off as pacer Sethmika Seneviratne claimed the early wicket of Khalid Ahmadzai.
The Sri Lankan bowlers tightened their grip in what was a formidable display to dismiss the Afghans for 193 in 49.5 overs.
Osman Sadat (61) and Aziz Mia Khil (43) made important contributions for Afghanistan.
While opener Sadat built a patient innings, ticking the scoreboard, Mia Khil took the attack to Sri Lanka as he struck five boundaries en route a 43-run innings.
For Sri Lanka, left-arm spinner Viran Chamuditha finished with impressive figures of 2/20 off his 10 overs.
Defending a modest total, Afghanistan found success in the first over with Abdul Aziz snapping the wicket of Chamuditha.
Sri Lanka bounced back from the early wicket through Dimantha Mahavithana (37) and Senuja Wekunagoda (43). However, the Afghans gave them a tough contest.
It was allrounder Chamika Heenatigala (22 not out), who navigated the team through a nervy final phase, taking them home in 46.5 overs.
The result means Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and West Indies all have four points each in the Super Six.
Afghanistan still sit atop Group 1 owing to a superior net run-rate.
USA WRAP UP CAMPAIGN IN STYLE
Scotland elected to bat first against the USA in the 13-16th place playoff.
Opening batter Theo Robinson was in fine form as he scored 83 to lay the foundation for Scotland, who posted a respectable total of 236 in their 50 overs.
Along with a 57-run opening stand with Olly Pillinger (23), Robinson also stitched a crucial 89-run partnership with Manu Saraswat (41) for the fourth wicket.
His departure triggered a flurry of wickets, as Scotland lost three wickets within the space of five balls for 164, but Jake Woodhouse chipped in with a handy 28 lower down the order to take his team over the 200-mark.
It was the medium pace duo of Ritvik Appidi and Rayaan Taj, who shone with the ball for USA.
While Taj dismissed Scotland’s top three, Appidi was the pick of the bowlers on the day with four wickets for 54 runs.
With Adnit Jhamb in top form, the USA cantered past the finish line, scoring 239 for three in 38.4 overs.
In a classy innings of 116 not out of 93 balls, Jhamb hit one six and 14 fours, the last of which proved to be the winning shot.
Jhamb and captain Utkarsh Srivastava (52) took the game away from Scotland with a 129-run partnership for the third wicket.