England have been knocked out of the Under 19 World Cup in New Zealand after the West Indies defeated the young lions by 18 runs to secure a semi final meeting with Pakistan.

A five-wicket haul by paceman John Holder helped to dismiss England for 148 after the West Indies had earlier made 166 with Kraigg Brathwaite and Andre Creary hitting 50s. 

The match was reduced to 36 overs per side after early rain had delayed the start of the match, with England captain Azeem Rafiq electing to bowl first to make use of the seamer friendly conditions.
David Payne struck twice with the new ball, reducing the West Indies to 32 for 2 in the 8th over however Brathwaite (69) and captain Creary (52) consolidated the early wickets with a third wicket, match winning partnership of 103 runs. 

Danny Briggs sparked a batting collapse when Hampshire team mate James Vince caught opener Brathwaite, who anchored the innings with 69 from 96 deliveries with just four boundaries to leave the West Indies on a respectable 135 for 3 in the 28th over. However the Caribbean team folded and were bowled out for 166 with their last eight wickets falling for just 31 runs. Payne finished with figures of 4 for 19 from 6 overs with Briggs chipping in with 2 for 33 from eight.

England’s reply got off to a poor start with both openers Joe Root (0) and Chris Dent (9) dismissed inside four overs by Jason Holder. Vince ignited the England innings hitting 20 from 15 balls including five 4s however Nelson Bolan claimed the prize wicket of Vince (20) and then Jos Buttler (3) to leave England stumbling on 38 for 4.

Ateeq Javid, Ben Stokes and Rafiq all made good starts however fell in the early 20s, without anyone taking a stranglehold on the innings. Once Briggs was dismissed by John Campbell having made 16, Holder returned to mop up the tail taking 3 wickets in quick succession to finish with figures of 5 for 19.            

John Abrahams,ECB Elite Player Development Manager, said: "This was a disappointing end to the tournament after three good performances in the group stages. The players have gelled together as a unit and worked hard during the preparation and competition phases on their own games and for each other. There is no doubt that they have grown as people and cricketers and hopefully they will see proof of that in the coming season."

Ally Fisher
 

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