ICC U-19 World Cup 2018: West Indies Qualify For Plate Semifinal With Easy Win Over Ireland
Nov 2, 2023 at 4:20 PM
West Indies have set up a semifinal clash with Canada after beating Ireland by 4 wickets in their plate quarterfinal encounter on Tuesday (January 23). After restricting Ireland to 278 for 8 in the allotted 50 overs, the defending champions chased down the total with 10 balls remaining.
After deciding to bat first, Ireland were off to a good start and were comfortably placed at 69 for 1 before West Indies threatened to derail their innings by taking three quick wickets and reduce them to 76 for 4. However, skipper Harry Tector and Neil Rock stopped the rot and shared a 116-run stand before Ashmead Nedd dismissed the former for 69. After Tector’s departure, Rock remained till the last over, scoring a brilliant 91 to guide Ireland to a competitive total. Jeavor Royal starred with the ball for West Indies, picking up 3 for 59 while Ronaldo Alimohamed took 2 for 31.
The score, however, did not turn out enough in the end as West Indies chased it down with quite an ease in the end. Openers Kimani Melius and Bhaskar Yadram gave the reigning u-19 world champions a solid start by adding 75 runs for the first wicket. Ireland would have sensed an opportunity after sending back both the openers and Alick Athanaze in quick succession to reduce West Indies to 109 for 3, but skipper Emmanuel Stewart and Kirstan Kallicharan thwarted their hopes by adding 62 runs for the fourth wicket. The partnership was broken when Stewart was run out for 50 while 23 runs later Tector accounted for Kallicharan.
Cephas Cooper then played a handy knock of 29 while Nyeem Young remained unbeaten on 55 to guide his team to an easy win.
Brief score:
West Indies 281 for 6 ( Young 55*, Yadram 53, Max Neville 2-53) beat Ireland 278 for 8 (Rock 91, Tector 69, Royal 3-59) by 4 wickets.