NORTH SOUND, Antigua, CMC – Left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd spearheaded a brilliant come-from-behind effort as West Indies Under-19 defended a small total to beat England Under-19s by 36 runs in the opening match of the Tri-Nations Series here Friday.
With the visitors set a paltry 165 for victory, Nedd sliced through the innings to finish with five for 27 and send them tumbling for 128 inside the 31st over at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.
New-ball seamers Matthew Forde (2-25) and Jayden Seales (2-46) set the tone with two wickets apiece as England declined to 28 for three in the seventh over and never really recovered.
Tail-ender Kasey Aldridge, batting at number nine, top-scored with 28 while opener Thomas Clark chipped in with 22 but they were the only two to pass 20. Seamer Aldridge had earlier snatched four for 38 in a lively 10-over spell as West Indies were bundled out for 164 off 46 overs, after being sent in.
Left-hander Leonardo Julien extended his form from last week’s Super50 final with a top score of 69 while opener Mbeki Joseph chipped in with 38 but West Indies declined from a strong position of 100 for one in the 29th over, losing their last nine wickets for 64 runs.
Pacers George Balderson (2-17) and Blake Cullen (2-38), who shared the new ball, finished with two wickets apiece.
Kimani Melius fell for six in the fourth over with 10 runs on the board, gloving a pull at Cullen and giving a simple leg-side catch to the keeper.
Julien and Joseph then combined in a 90-run second wicket stand which consolidated the innings and put the hosts in control.
While Julien counted 10 fours and a six in a 90-ball innings, Joseph faced 84 balls and struck two fours, as England struggled to find a breakthrough.
It came when Joseph perished in the 29th over, lifting left-arm spinner Lewis Goldsworthy to long off and when Julien followed 18 balls later with 22 runs added, the innings came apart at the seams.
West Indies hit back strongly, Seales having Ben Charlesworth brilliantly caught at backward point by Melius in the second over without scoring and then removing Clark, tugging a catch to Nedd at mid on in the sixth over.
When Jordon Cox perished five balls later in next over for four, England were in strife and Nedd’s introduction soon afterwards saw the last seven wickets tumble for 82 runs.
