Monday (20th January) was the fourth day of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2020. In the Group B contest, while West Indies U19 clinched a comfortable victory against England U19 in DLS method, Australia U19 outclassed Nigeria U19.
All-rounder Nyeem Young was the hero for West Indies U19
After winning the toss, England U19 decided to field first. The Caribbean openers, captain Kimani Melius (24) and wicketkeeper-batsman Leonardo Julien (40) provided a 47-run partnership. But then they lost their wickets at regular intervals and went down to 138/5. Struggling in that situation, Kevlon Anderson and Nyeem Young played massive roles for West Indies to build up a challenging first innings total.
Anderson-Young had the 101 runs partnership for the sixth wicket. Young played a firing knock of 66 runs in 41 balls (5 fours and 4 sixes). Meanwhile, the no.3 batsman Anderson remained not out on 86 runs off 105 balls. Their impressive batting secured the first innings total of 267/7 (50 overs).
Chasing down that target, the English top-order batsmen got the proper start but failed to capitalise their batting to the big scores. All the top four batsmen reached the 20-run mark in that innings. On the other hand, their middle-order batting faced collapse in that rain-interrupted innings as they went down from 120/2 to 151/8. Once again, Nyeem Young, the West Indies medium bowler, shined in that innings and claimed a five-wicket haul (5/45).
Due to the final rain-interruption, England U19 had the DLS target of 256/9 in 43.4 overs, but they only managed to score 184/9 in the same over. West Indies finally won this match by 71 runs (DLS method).
Nigeria U19 only managed to score 61 runs
On the other hand, Australia U19 thrashed Nigeria U19 side. Though Nigerian youths decided to bat first, they were bundled out for just 61 runs (30.3 overs). Opener Olayinka Olaleye (21) was the only batsman from Nigeria U19 to reach the double-digit figure. Meanwhile, the second-highest scorer in that innings was extras (14).
While the leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha (5/14) took five wickets, Bradley Simpson (3/11) picked up three wickets. In reply, the Aussie openers, Sam Fanning (30*) and Jake Fraser-McGurk (23*) easily chased down that target in 7.4 overs without harming the wicket column.