ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup Bangladesh 2004

ICC releases

Dhaka, 17 February 2004  

Sri Lanka too strong for Canada      

Sri Lanka beat Canada by nine wickets at the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium.   

Group A   

Sri Lanka overwhelmed Canada at the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium to win by nine wickets as Chamith Kulasekara claimed a second consecutive Man of the Match award.   Kulasekara was chief destroyer as Canada failed to repeat the resolute batting they showed against Australia a day earlier. He returned figures of 5 for 27 as Canada were bowled out for 81 in 31.1 overs.   

Sri Lanka's batsmen made light work of the target with right-hander Harsha Vithana scoring the bulk of the runs. The target was reached in 16 overs with only one wicket down and Vithana not out on 52.   

Sri Lanka coach D. S. de Silva refused to get carried away by his side's second comfortable victory.   

"We are taking the tournament game by game and if we can play like we did today and continue performing like this we have a chance of winning the trophy," said de Silva.  

  Canada coach Franklyn Dennis was disappointed by his side's batting collapse.   

"It has nothing to do with the conditions here in Bangladesh which I think are good. Our players got out by misjudging balls and I hope we can perform better in our next match," said Dennis.   

Tomorrow in Group A Australia takes on Zimbabwe in Bogra in a game Zimbabwe must win to stay in contention for the Super League.  

Bangladesh youngsters maul Scotland - Group C   

Bangladesh beat Scotland by nine wickets at Fatullah District Stadium.   

The host nation gained its first points of the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup 2004 with a crushing nine-wicket defeat of Scotland at the Fatullah District Stadium.  

  Over 5,000 fans turned up to watch the first ever international match held in Fatullah and they were in good voice as Bangladesh romped past Scotland's total of 95 in only 12.2 overs.   

An accomplished all-round performance from the home side was initiated by their bowlers. After putting Scotland in, the hosts made steady progress through the their batting line up.   

The spin duo of Enamul Haque jnr (4 for 21) and Shahadat Hossain (3 for 27) took the bulk of the wickets as Scotland slumped to 95 all out from 30.2 overs. Only skipper Kyle Coetzer made double figures before being bowled by Haque jnr for 42.    

This is Coetzer's second ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup and he top-scored for Scotland for the second consecutive day after making 62 against India.   

Bangladesh's batsmen picked up where India left off yesterday and had the match wrapped up before lunch. After being hit for 425 in 50 overs by India the previous day, Scotland's bowlers could only keep this match alive for 12.2 overs.   

Nafees Iqbal and Naeem Islam did the damage racing to 39 and 49 not out respectively at over a run-a-ball.    

Bangladesh coach Richard McInnes was pleased with the positive attitude of his team.   

"The speed with which we wrapped up the match should fill the players with a lot of confidence," said McInnes.   

"We prepared very well for this tournament and we are giving it our best shot. I still think the players can perform better."   

Scotland's coach Willie Morton refused to be downbeat in defeat.    

"The tournament goes on into next week and for us that is when the competition will really begin," said Morton.   

"In Scotland we would normally have four men and a dog watching us play so it is a great experience for our boys to play in front of such crowds."   

Tomorrow in Group C India takes on New Zealand and the Bangabandhu National Stadium. England beat Uganda in one-sided affair    

England beat Uganda by 213 runs at the M.A. Aziz Stadium, Chittagong.    

England comfortably beat Uganda by 213 runs at the M.A. Aziz Stadium in Chittagong today.     

After winning the toss and electing to bowl, Uganda would have been fairly satisfied in restricting England to 259 for 7 in 50 overs. Only Samit Patel reached 50 for England before becoming the third of Davis Arinaitweıs victims. Arinaitwe returned Ugandaıs best bowling figures with 3 for 53 from his nine overs.   Ugandaıs reply never got going as Englandıs bowling attack made rapid inroads. Both Tim Bresnan and David Stiff finished the match with impressive figures of 4 for 7 with Mark Lawson picking up the other two wickets for 13 runs.    

The win is Englandıs second and virtually guarantees Englandıs place in the Super League.   Tomorrow South Africa takes on Nepal at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium and a win for South Africa will ensure both Super League places are decided before the final round of matches.   

    Pakistan too strong for Ireland    

Pakistan beat Ireland by eight wickets at the Khulna Divisional Stadium     

Pakistan beat Ireland by eight wickets at the Khulna Divisional Stadium to all-but-secure a spot in the Super League with one match still to play.     

A day after falling only six runs short of an upset against West Indies, Ireland were outplayed by an impressive Pakistan team in front of a crowd of over 4,000 that included ICC President Ehsan Mani.   Put into bat, Ireland struggled to keep the scoreboard ticking over as wickets fell at regular intervals. The European Champions had reached 142 when their tenth wicket fell in the 48th over.   Mansoor Amjed claimed four wickets for 28 with his leg breaks while Salman Qadir and Tariq Mehmood picked up two wickets each.    

Pakistanıs batsmen were decisive in their reply with both openers notching fifties. Captain Khalid Latif was out for 50 from 45 balls while Adnan Zaheer finished the match not out on 64 after only only 25.2 overs.     

Amjad was named Man of the Match.     

³I donıt think we did badly, we were simply beaten by a better team,² said Ireland coach Adrian Birrell.    

After putting the opposition in for the second consecutive match, Pakistan manager Sultan Rana defended his captainıs decision.   ³We are happy to bat or bowl first, whatever comes to us we will take and we are confident in our ability,² said Rana.    

Tomorrow in Group D West Indies takes on Papua New Guinea.