
COLOMBO, JAN 15: Defending champions England had a close call against Zimbabwe before qualifying for the Super League stage of the Under-19 World Cup cricket tournament here on Saturday.
England, who recovered from 82 for six through Gary Pratt’s defiant 68, overcame a great challenge staged by Zimbabwe to scrape through by three runs and finish second to West Indies from Group A enough to get through to the next round of the tournament.
Zimbabwe would have won the tie on the Duckworth and Lewis system had they accepted the offer for light and come off. At the time they were ahead of England, but the batsmen probably were not aware of the situation and continued to bat till the end of the match.
West Indies won their third successive match to top the group when they beat Americas by 132 runs on Saturday.
Sri Lanka beat Australia by eight wickets to top Group D. Australia, who hit the highest total of the competition against Namibia when they ran up 321 for two off 50 overs, were shot out for 90 by a confident Sri Lankan team, who then knocked off the required runs with much ado.
Namibia tied with Ireland in another match in the same group. Batting first, Namibia made 186 for seven off 48 overs, and when bad light ended play Ireland had replied with 127 for five off 36 overs. Under the Duckworth and Lewis rule, the match had ended in a tie. Both teams are out of the Super League.
Brief scores: England 187-8 in 50 overs (Gary Pratt 68) bt Zimbabwe 184-6 in 50 overs.


