England v West Indies, U-19 WC semi-final, Dhaka

West Indies through to final

Wisden Cricinfo staff

March 2, 2004

West Indies 249 for 6 (Ramdin 72, Zamal 60*) beat England 155 (Rampaul 3-27) by 94 runs
Scorecard

West Indies are through to the final of the Under-19 World Cup, after cruising past England in a disappointingly one-sided match at Dhaka. Chasing a hefty target of 250 under the floodlights of the Bangabandhu Stadium, England capitulated after a slow start, and ultimately contributed to their own downfall with no fewer than four run-outs.

West Indies owed their success to their captain, Denish Ramdin, who won the toss and chose to bat first, and top-scored with a measured 72 from 85 balls to transform a rocky innings into a rock-solid platform for his bowlers. He was joined in an 87-run partnership for the sixth wicket by Zamal Khan, who provided a fiery finish with 60 not out from 49 balls - and on a pitch where 230 was considered a good total, West Indies had rallied from 146 for 5 in the 36th over to 249 for 6.

Such a total had looked somewhat outlandish at the early stage of the West Indian innings. Tishan Maraj was run out by his partner Xavier Marshall in the very first over, and Lendl Simmons laboured for a 25-ball 5, before being trapped lbw while trying to flick Harrison to leg. Marshall, who survived two confident appeals for caught-behind, tried to cut loose but with a half-century in sight, he took the long handle to Luke Wright, and was outstandingly caught in the deep by a diving Mark Lawson (69 for 3).

Assad Fudadin took up the cudgels and cracked seven fours in his third half-century of the tournament, but Harrison - the pick of England's bowlers with 3 for 28 - returned to bowl Fudadin and Jonathan Augustus in consecutive overs. But Ramdin and Zamal picked up the pieces and the tempo, and England had no answers. Ramdin was eventually caught behind attempting an expansive scoop shot, but he had done enough already.

That was not so apparent when West Indies came out to bowl, however. Ravi Rampaul and Mervin Matthew opened up with a diet of leg-side deliveries that were flicked off the pads for boundaries, but Rampaul eventually tightened up his line, and earned his reward as Ravi Bopara mistimed a pull to mid-on (32 for 1). Simmons then becalmed Simon Davies with a tight spell of offspin, and Ramdin was on hand to pull off a smart stumping (45 for 2), before Luke Wright was stunningly caught by Marshall in the gully for 3 (57 for 3).

All eyes were on Cook, but when he gave himself room and was comprehensively bowled by Rampaul for 33, the end was remarkably nigh. Tim Bresnan delayed the inevitable with a run-a-ball 41, but he fell victim to a poor piece of calling, and Samit Patel holed out in the very same over (114 for 6).

The end of the innings was rather shambolic. Tom New attempted a suicidal second run off a misfield, Adam Harrison was run out in a similar fashion, and after James Hildreth had smeared an edge through to the keeper, Simmons applied a wonderfully athletic coup de grace with a tumbling pick-up-and-throw to cue mass celebrations in the West Indian camp.

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Matches

England Under-19s v West Indies Under-19s

Players/Umpires

Denesh Ramdin

Teams

England

West Indies