U-19 World Cup: England beat Bangladesh to secure knockouts berth

Skipper Harry Brook led from the front with an unbeaten century as England thrashed Bangladesh by seven wickets in a Group C encounter of the ICC U-19 World Cup here on Thursday.

Brook remained unbeaten on 102 as England chased down a modest 176-run target in 29.3 overs. His 84-ball innings was studded with 13 boundaries and three sixes.

England have thus secured a spot in the next round as they are at the top of the group with four points after winning both the matches they have played so far.

Bangladesh have virtually ensured their passage to the next round as they finished their group engagements wth four points from three matches.

In the unlikely scenario of minnows Canada beating England in the last match of Group C, the second team to advance from the group will be decided on net run rate as the North Americans are currently on two points.

England did not enjoy a great start to their innings as opener Tom Banton was caught behind off Bangladesh pacer Qazi Onik's bowling in the fourth over.

Savin Perera, the other opener, and Will Jacks also departed in quick succession as England struggled 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 on winning the toss, Bangladesh captain Saif Hassan was left to rue his decision as his team 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 of the Bangladesh batting effort as the rest of their batsmen failed to cope with the England bowling.

Hossian scored 63 runs off 85 balls and was involved in a 94-run stand with Aminul Islam before both batsmen were dismissed by England off-spinner Euan Woods in the 32nd over.

Woods ended up with figures of 3/26 while Ethan Bamber returned 3/19.

Meanwhile, Canada eased to a four-wicket win over Namibia in another Group C match in Christchurch.

The win keeps Canadian hopes alive for a spot in the knockout stages.

Electing to bat first, Namibia were bundled out for 193 runs in 46 overs.

Canada Pacer Akash Gill inflicted most of the damage with figures of 4/43. Rishiv Ragav Joshi, Rommel Shahzad and Aran Pathmanathan bagged a couple of wickets each.

In reply, Canada overhauled the target with eight overs in hand.

Skipper Arslan Khan was the top scorer for Canada with 72 runs off 89 deliveries.

Gill and Kevin Singh also struck half-centuries to play crucial roles in Canada's victory.

Leg-spinner Petrus Burger had rekindled Namibian hopes when he sent back Canada openers Pranav Sharma and Randhir Sandhu in consecutive overs.

That left Canada struggling at 20/2 in the sixth over, but a 110-run partnership between Khan and Gill brought the innings back on track.

Brief scores:

Bangladesh: 175 in 49.2 overs (Afif Hossain 63; Ethan Bamber 3/19, Euan Woods 3/26) vs England: 177/3 in 29.3 overs (Harry Brook 102 not out, Euan Woods 48 not out).

Namibia: 193 (Lohandre Louwrens 38; Akash Gill 4/43) vs Canada: 197/6 (Arslan Khan 72, Akash Gill 52, Kevin Singh 50 not out).

--IANS

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