Dominica’s Stephan Pascal hit a half-century while St. Maarten’s Nathan Edward starred with ball and bat to help the West Indies U-19s secure a narrow two-wicket victory over England to confirm their progression through to the Super Sixes stage at the ICC Under-19 World Cup at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom.
Edward, 18, got the ball rolling almost immediately with the wicket of England opened Jaydn Denly just four balls into the contest after the West Indies won the toss and put England in to bat.
Skipper Ben McKinney and Noah Thain then put on 50 for the second wicket before McKinney was Edward’s second victim for 26 in the 11th over.
Thain and new batsman Hamza Shaikh then added a further 47 for the third wicket before Thain went for 40 in the 21st over.
England then lost their next four wickets at 99, 120, 135 and 147 before eventually being bowled out for 192 in 46.3 overs.
Shaikh went on to top score with 53 while Edward, who also took two catches, finished with 3-28 from his 6.3 overs.
He was well supported by Raneico Smith (2-28), Isai Thorne (2-40) and Tarrique Edward (2-40).
The West Indians then lost eight wickets in a nervy chase, eventually bringing up the win reaching 196-8 after 41 overs.
Captain Stephan Pascal led the way with 58 off 84 balls while Edward made a match-winning 49* off 80 balls including five fours and a six.
After the wickets of Jordan Johnson for a rapid 17-ball 31 including four fours and two sixes, Mavendra Dindyal for 14 and Jewel Andrew, the tournament’s leading run-scorer heading into this game with scores of 130 against South Africa and 64* against Scotland, for just two, the West Indies were reeling at 98-5 in the 16th over.
Pascal was then joined at the crease by Edward and the pair put on 51 before Pascal inexplicably tried to go over the top off leg-spinner Tazeem Ali only to be caught at mid-off in the 32nd over.
The subsequent quick dismissal of Nathan Sealy for one in the 35th over put the Windies in a tough spot at 156-7 but Nathan and Tarrique Edward were able go hold their nerve.
Tarrique Edward was eventually dismissed for 5 in the 40th over with the Windies needing just one to win.
The West Indies are now through to the Super Sixes phase of the competition.
The top three from each group qualify for the Super Sixes stage. From there, the 12 teams will be divided into two groups of six each. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals. (Sportsmax)