St GEORGE’S, Grenada (CMC):
Half-centuries by captain Joshua Dorne and Jonathan van Lange ensured West Indies Under-19s drew first blood against their England counterparts, as they won the opening Youth One-Day International by four wickets yesterday.
Dorne scored 90, while van Lange made 52 to guide the home side to 246 for six in 49.2 overs in pursuit of England’s total of 242 at the National Cricket Stadium.
The pair shared a match-winning partnership of 117 runs that helped the Windies recover from a tricky position of 105 for four in the 29th over.
They were actually 49 for three after England captain Farhan Ahmed snared the early wickets of Tyriek Bryan for 18 and Zachary Carter for 10, and pacer Seb Morgan bowled Earsinho Fontaine.
Dorne and Kunal Tilokani, who made 20, then added 56 runs for the fourth wicket before the latter became the first of Jack Nelson’s three wickets.
But Dorne and van Lange titled the momentum in their side’s favour during a partnership that carried them within sight of victory.
However, Nelson returned to dismiss van Lange after he had faced 50 balls and struck four fours and one six, and then bowled Dorne, who faced 119 balls and hit six fours and one six, in the space of two balls to leave the Windies 223 for six in the 47th over.
Shaquan Belle’s quickfire, unbeaten 19 off just nine balls proved decisive, as the Windies got over the line with four balls to spare.
Nelson was the pick of England’s bowlers with 3-50, while Ahmed claimed 2-41.
Earlier, a well-rounded bowling display by the West Indies kept England’s innings in check after they won the toss and elected to bat first.
The visitors got off to a solid start with openers Ben Dawkins and Issac Mohammed sharing a partnership of 50 runs in nine overs.
They then lost the wickets of Mohammed for 22, Dawkins for 19 and Ben Mayes for six, in quick succession to slip to 58 for three.
Joe Moores, who scored a counter-attacking 59 off 45 balls with five fours and four sixes, and Caleb Falconer, who made 44, added 81 runs for the fourth wicket to revive the innings.
Once they were dismissed, Nelson hit 31 off 27 balls and Ralphie Albert, who made 23, helped England up to their eventual total before being bowled out with 22 balls remaining.
For the West Indies, Belle (2-26), Jakeem Pollard (2-27), Carter (2-50) and Tilokani (2-58), each took two wickets.
