CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh, CMC – Half-centuries from Keemo Paul and Gidron Pope failed to save West Indies Under-19s from a 61-run loss to England Under-19s in their opening game of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup here yesterday.
Chasing an imposing 283 for victory at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, West Indies collapsed for 221 all out off 43.4 overs, with Paul top-scoring with an aggressive 65 and opener Pope gathering an equally fluent run-a-ball 60.
However, the Caribbean side was hamstrung by the loss of two wickets off the first four deliveries of the innings and never recovered.
Fast bowler Saqib Mahmood tormented the Windies with four for 42 while left-arm seamer Sam Curran (2-23) and leg-spinner Dan Lawrence (2-38) provided support with two wickets apiece.
Earlier, England paced their innings well to reach 282 for seven off their 50 overs, after opting to bat first.
Callum Taylor, with 59 and Lawrence, 55, stroked half-centuries while George Bartlett struck 48, James Burnham, 44, and Curran, 39.
Pope was the best West Indies bowler, picking up two for 45 with his off-spin.
England benefitted from several partnerships early on which provided the ideal foundation.
Lawrence, who faced 56 balls and counted eight fours, posted 43 for the first wicket with Max Holden (4) before adding a further 41 for the second wicket with Burnham.
When Lawrence was bowled by off-spinner Michael Frew in the 15th over, Burnham and Taylor put on 62 for the third wicket to give England momentum at the half-way stage of the innings.
Burnham lashed four fours and two sixes off 55 deliveries while Taylor faced 67 balls and counted three fours and two sixes.
Pope got the breakthrough in the 28th over when he removed Burnham caught and bowled but Bartlett anchored two key partnerships to sustain the momentum, posting 50 for the fourth wicket with Taylor and another 67 for the fifth wicket with Curran.
Then, West Indies started disastrously in reply, losing opener Tevin Imlach and captain Shimron Hetmyer both without scoring in the first over.
Off the second ball of the innings, Imlach pushed at one angled across him from Curran and nicked a catch behind and two balls later, Hetmyer missed a full length delivery and was adjudged lbw.
Pope and Keacy Carty, who scored 22, then revived the innings in an 84-run stand. The left-handed Pope struck six fours and three sixes while Carty faced 53 balls and hit a single boundary.
West Indies were finding their footing when Pope fell to trigger a slide which saw three wickets tumble for 19 runs in the space of 30 deliveries to leave them tottering on 103 for five in the 23rd over.
Pope missed a heave at Lawrence and lost his off-stump, Carty mis-timed a drive back to the same bowler two overs later while Shamar Springer drove at a wide leg-break from Mason Crane and was caught at slip.
Paul then took matters into his own hands, hammering seven fours and a six in a 58-ball innings as he dominated a 90-run sixth wicket partnership with Jyd Goolie who made 27 from 58 balls.
The partnership offered the Windies a flicker of hope but just when England appeared out of ideas, Mahmood grabbed his first wicket when Goolie holed out just inside the ropes at long-on.
His demise in the 40th over led to a terminal decline for West Indies as the last five wickets fell for just 28 runs in the space off 22 deliveries.
