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England claim DLS-method win after rain spoils run chase

cricket23 January 2024 15:56| © MWP
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England rubber-stamped their tournament credentials after a comfortable 36-run DLS method win over the Proteas in the ICC Men’s Under 19 World Cup clash in Group B in Potchefstroom on Tuesday.

Umpires were forced to remove the players from the field after a lightning threat was issued, which was followed by showers over the JB Marks Oval.

England sat comfortably on 137/2 in their pursuit of the 231-run winning target and were also 33 runs ahead of the DLS par score, which stood at 104/2 after 28.3 overs.

The win saw the Englishmen take control of Group B, with four points from their two matches, and now almost guaranteeing that they would finish as group winners regardless of what happens in their next match.

Earlier, 64 from Proteas opener Steve Stolk and 42 from Dewan Marais were the driving force behind their final total of 230 all out as the English slow bowlers strangled the Proteas batsmen.

England No 3 Noah Thain was unbeaten at the crease, having reached a third youth ODI half-century while Hamza Shaikh was at the other end on nine runs with 94 runs still to chase when the game was halted.

Ninety-two runs from England skipper Ben McKinney and Thain to bring up the team century got the run chase back on track after the early loss of Jaydn Denly.

Romashan Pillay removed the England captain two runs short of his half-century before Hamza (9) joined Thain (63) to forge their partnership which stood on 37 at better than a run a ball.

HOME SIDE STRUGGLE WITH THE BAT

After being asked to bat first by England, Stolk and wicketkeeper-batsman Lhuan-dre Pretorius (25) shared 71 runs for the first wicket to get the home side off to a solid start.

Pretorius was out caught behind by Jack Carney off Eddie Jack before David Teeger was sent back to the pavilion for a duck five balls later, as they slipped to 72/2 after 11.4 overs.

Stolk and Robert Seletswane calmed things down with 39-run third-wicket partnership, but the right-hand opener was run out after a well-constructed innings lasting 55 balls and including 11 boundaries and a six.

Things got worse for the hosts as they lost Oliver Whitehead and Romashan Pillay without any runs from their bats, with both wickets taken by Tazeem Chaudry Ali in consecutive overs to leave the Proteas reeling on 114/5.

Marais and Seletswane then added 55 runs for the sixth wicket and looked to have  their assignment back on track as they took the side past 150, however, the pair, who scored 42 and 33 respectively, would fall within six balls of each other, leaving the hosts in trouble on 169/7.

The home side never really got going with the bat, and it showed as they could only score 61 runs for the loss of their final three wickets as skipper James (13), Tristan Luus (17) and Nqobani Mokoena (18) offered little resistance.

Ali, Jack, and Jaydn Denly claimed three wickets apiece to record figures of 3-26, 3-28, and 3-37 from a combined 27.2 overs as the hosts never found their feet.

SOUTH AFRICA: Steve Stolk, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius(wk), David Teeger, Richard Seletswane, Oliver Whitehead, Dewan Marais, Romashan Pillay, Juan James*, Tristan Luus, Kwena Maphaka, Nqobani Mokoena.

ENGLAND: Jaydn Denly, Ben Mckinney*, Noah Thain, Hamza Shaikh, Luc Benkenstein, Charlie Allison, Dominic Kelly, Jack Carney(wk), Eddie Jack, Farhan Ahmed, Tazeem Chaudry Ali.

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