Basseterre (St Kitts), Jan 21 (IANS) England skipper Tom Prest continued his sublime form with the bat, smashing an unbeaten 154 to help his side defeat the UAE by 189 runs in a Group A match of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup at the Warner Park here on Friday (IST).
The UAE now take on Bangladesh to decide who will join England in the Super League quarterfinals from Group A.
Prest won the toss and chose to bat and after coming in at No.3, the Hampshire batter slammed 13 fours and four sixes in just 119 balls as his side posted an imposing 362/6.
Only Dan Lawrence has made a higher individual total for the England Under-19s but Prest had to wait until the 12th over to get out to the middle as George Thomas (42) and Jacob Bethell (62) shared an opening stand of 69.
Prest, who was adjudged ‘Player of the Match’, had shown his form with 93 in the win over Canada last time out but he was not to be denied another century as he dominated the UAE’s attack and shared a half-century stand with Bethell and then James Rew (24).
When William Luxton, 47 off 45 balls, joined him at the crease, England were 182 for three in the 31st over but together they added 117 runs in just 92 balls. England went past the 300-mark for the second match in succession despite the best efforts of Jash Giyanani who was the pick of the UAE bowlers with 2/60 from his 10 overs.
England’s total always looked like it would be difficult to overhaul and the UAE were reeling when they were reduced to 61/5 in the 15th over, with seamer Josh Boyden taking two wickets to take his tournament tally to 10.
Ali Naseer’s 54 off 44 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 Ahmed excelled on his first outing in the West Indies with 4/30 from his 10 overs.
England dismissed the UAE for 173 to confirm their place as Group A winners as they progress to the Super League quarterfinals with their all-win record intact.
Brief scores: England 362/6 in 50 overs (Jacob Bethell 62, Tom Prest 154 not out) beat UAE 173 in 38.2 overs (Ali Naseer 54; Rehan Ahmed 4/30) by 189 runs.
–IANS
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