ICC U-19 World Cup: England strolls past Bangladesh

Captain Harry Brook and Euan Woods were chief contributors in England’s seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh on Thursday; in the other match of the day, Canada defeated Namibia.

Afif Hossain provided brief respite to Bangladesh with a knock of 63.

An all-round performance gave England a convincing victory over Bangladesh in the ICC U-19 World Cup on Thursday. Bangladesh, batting first, was bowled out for 175 before captain Harry Brook smashed an unbeaten century to chase down the target with more than 20 overs remaining. Euan Woods contributed with bat and ball, taking three wickets with his off-spin bowling to help dent Bangladesh and then serving as one half of a fruitful batting alliance with his captain.

The victory was England’s second in two matches in the competition so far. It leads Group C in the standings on net run-rate (+3.278) and is favourite to qualify for the quarterfinals from the group. Despite the loss, Bangladesh remains second, with two wins from three matches.

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Seamer Ethan Bamber did the early damage to Bangladesh, snaffling two of its top-order batsmen as the batting side was reduced to eight for three in the fifth over. Bamber, soon after, took his third wicket, dismissing Tawhid Hridoy for 12. Bangladesh provided brief resistance via Afif Hossain; the middle-order batsman scored a half-century (63) and developed partnerships with Aminul Islam and Mahidul Islam Ankon.

However, Woods helped clean up the lower half of the line-up, and found himself batting not long after. In the pursuit of its target, England lost early wickets. It was reduced to 49 for 4 in the 10th over. Brook and Woods, however, stemmed the rot, batting for 19.3 overs to take victory.

Canada remains in contention

In the other match of the day, Canada defeated Namibia by five wickets. Namibia’s 193 was overhauled for the loss of six wickets with eight overs remaining. The win keeps Canada in contention for a spot in the quarterfinals. With a win and a loss in two games played so far, it occupies the third spot in Group C.

• Bangladesh 175 in 49.2 overs (Hossain 63; Bamber 3 for 19, Woods 3 for 26) lost to England 177 for 3 in 29.3 overs (Brook 102*, Woods 48*) by seven wickets.
• Namibia 193 in 46 overs (Gill 4 for 43) lost to Canada 197 for 6 in 42 overs (Khan 72, Gill 52, Singh 50) by four wickets.