England, Pakistan cruise to quarters

BASSETERRE, Jan 21: Skipper Tom Prest smashed an unbeaten 154 as former champions England cruised to the Super League quarter-finals of the ICC U-19 World Cup with a thumping 189-run win over the UAE in Basseterre, St Kitts.

Continuing his incredible run of form, Prest powered England to a mammoth 362 for six after electing to bat.

The English bowlers, led by leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed (4/30), then put up a disciplined effort to bowl out UAE for 173 in 38.2 overs.

Prest blasted 13 fours and four sixes in his scintillating 119-ball innings, while Jacob Bethell (62), William Luxton (47) and George Thomas (41) also chipped in as the 1998 edition winners England put up an imposing total.

Bethell and Thomas gave England a blistering start, adding 69 runs in 11.5 overs.

Ali Naseer's counter-attacking 54 off 44 balls helped reverse some of the momentum as he put on 59 with Nilansh Keswani for the sixth wicket.

But when Nilansh departed, the last four wickets fell for 53 runs as leg-spinner Rehan excelled in his first outing in the West Indies with four for 30 from his allotted ten overs.

Pakistan too booked their place in the Super League quarterfinals with a 24-run victory over Afghanistan.

Afghanistan did well to restrict Pakistan to a modest 239 for nine in the group C match at Brian Lara stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad.

However, the Afghans got the pace of their innings all wrong in reply, managing 215 in the designated 50 overs.

The top three soaked up far too many balls in pursuit of the target. It took them 170 balls to bring up 100 runs with Bilal Sayedi (42 off 81), Nangeyalia Kharote (12 off 32), and Allah Noor (28 off 49) managing strike rates under 58.

Bangladesh bounced back from defeat with a dominant eight-wicket triumph over Canada.

Off-spinner SM Meherob and pacer Ripon Mondol snapped four wickets each as Bangladesh bowled out Canada for a lowly 136 in a group A match at Conaree Sports Club in Basseterre.

Bangladesh then galloped to the target in 30.1 overs to register their first win of the tournament.

Iftakher Hossain anchored the chase for the defending champions with a well-made 61 off 89 balls while Prantiz Nawrose Nabil (33) and Aich Mollah (20 not out) also chipped in.

Earlier, opener Anoop Chima stood amid the ruins with a 117-ball 63 as Canada's decision to bat backfired with only four of their batters reaching double digit figures. 

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