Big win puts Papua New Guinea on top

Papua New Guinea Under-19 maintained their 100% record in the ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifiers with a 92-run win over Uganda Under-19 in King City. This win took them to the top of the table after previous table leaders Ireland lost to USA by 42 runs.

Openers Heni Siaka and Lega Tau added 51 together after Uganda put PNG in to bat. Two more half-century stands between Vagi Oala (46) and Jason Kila (33) and John Reva (29*) and Steven Eno (43*) took PNG to 234 for 5.

The possibility of a serious chase was ruled out when Uganda lost their first four wickets for 42. Emmanuel Nakaana top scored with 37 off 80 balls and was the seventh wicket to fall for 126 when he was bowled by legspinner Charles Amini. The last three wickets added 16 more as the match was wrapped up in the 44th over. Amini picked up 3 for 21 in 8.3 overs.

An all-round display from Canada Under-19 gave them a comprehensive 77-run win over Netherlands Under-19 at Malton Cricket Club in Toronto on day four of the ICC Under-19 World Cup Qualifiers. The middle order boosted them to 220, with contributions from Nitish Kumar (40), Usman Limbada (26) and Asif Manjra (27) after opener Ruvindu Gunasekara had hit a run-a-ball 35.

Ferdi Vink picked up three wickets in 4.3 overs but went for 28 runs as well. Netherlands began well, their openers reaching 48 in 12 overs before left-arm spinner Hiral Patel dismissed them in quick succession. Vinoo Tewarie and Tim Gruijters added another 43 but Tewarie's wicket in the 27th over - bowled by offspinner Riayz Pathan - triggered a lower-order collapse. They lost their last seven wickets for 43 runs as Canada wrapped up the match in 45 overs. Despite the win, Canada remained at fourth place in the points table and Netherlands also stayed at sixth spot.

Afghanistan Under-19 bounced back from their 72-run defeat to Ireland on Thursday to notch up an easy six-wicket win against Hong Kong Under-19 in King City.

Izatullah Dawlatzai and Aimal Wafa shared seven wickets between them as Hong Kong were bowled out for 195. Dawlatzai, a medium-pace bowler, dismissed the openers in the first four overs with only eight on the scoreboard. However Nizakat Khan led Hong Kong's recovery with a patient 59, adding half-century stands with James Atkinson and Ashish Gadhia. The two bowlers finally combined to remove Nizakat in the 30th over - when Wafa had Nizakat caught by Dawlatzai with Hong Kong at 128 for 4. Wafa then took two in two overs as Hong Kong slipped to 168 for 8 before Dawlatzai picked up the last two wickets.

Afghanistan's openers Ayoub Ahmadzai and Javed Ahmadi added 67 together to set up the chase. Though Afghanistan also lost four wickets for 128, around the same point in their innings that Hong Kong did, they did not collapse thereafter. Wafa (27*) and Noor-ul-Haq (44*) finished off the chase with more than seven overs to spare. Hong Kong have lost all three of their games so far.

Saqib Saleem took 5 for 38 as USA Under-19 beat table-toppers Ireland by 42 runs in King City to go to second place in the points table.

Ryan Corns' 86 and Shiva Vashishat's 43 took USA to 217 for 6 - 72 less than what Ireland had scored in their win over Afghanistan. Ireland's chase began well with openers Andrew Balbirnie and Lee Nelson adding 62. Balbirnie was run out for 45 and No. 3 Paul Stirling was trapped leg before for 10 soon after. Nelson fell with the score on 93. Saleem took the next four wickets as Ireland slipped to 141 for 7. The last three wickets fell for 25 runs - Saleem got his fifth when he had No. 10 Edward Richardson caught for 14 - and USA won with 21 balls to spare.