England U19 beat Hong Kong U19 by 9 wickets in ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 opener

England U19 have eased to a comfortable nine wicket victory over Hong Kong U19 in a Group A match for the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2010 played at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln, Canterbury. Weather conditions for the match were overcast with a cold Southerly wind. Temperatures ranged from 11-16˚C throughout the day..

Winning the toss and electing to bowl first, the England U19 opening pace trio of Nathan Buck, David Payne and Ben Stokes made good use of the favourable conditions to restrict Hong Kong U19 to 3-32 from the first 13 overs, including the wickets of Shakeel Haq (9), Alex Smith (7) and skipper James Atkinson (9) - all bowled. Irfan Ahmed and Nizakat Khan set about rescuing the innings and the two combined for a useful partnership worth 67 runs scored off 72 balls. Irfan hit two sumptuous cover drives and one massive straight six in his innings of 32 scored off 42 balls before he played across the line and was trapped LBW by England U19 skipper Azeem Rafiq. Mark Chapman joined the fray and he immediately started playing with the same confidence and composure that has been a feature of Hong Kong's Cricket World Cup campaign to date. Nizakat Khan was also playing with more confidence although he was living dangerously by choosing the aerial route for a number of attacking shots. Nizakat was lucky to survive a tough chance in the outfield but that did not deter his attacking play as he smashed two sixes over the mid-wicket boundary - the second parried over the fence by Chris Dent - off the bowling of Ateeq Javid. However Javid got his revenge in the next over as Nizakat got underneath another big shot and the catch was easily taken by James Vince running back from the 30 meter circle. Nizakat's fine innings of 65 was scored off 69 balls and included seven fours and two sixes and his partnership with Chapman had realised another useful 56 runs.

Hong Kong U19 looked to be in a relatively good position at this stage at 5-155 after 38 overs and a score in excess of 200 looked on the cards. However England had other ideas and the return of seamer David Payne to the bowling crease had an immediate and dramatic impact on Hong Kong's cause. From Payne's second ball Ashish Gadhia (3) was run out by an excellent throw from Chris Dent on the boundary and then Chapman was caught by wicket-keeper Michael Bates off the last ball of the over. Chapman's innings of 29 was scored off 57 balls and included two boundaries. Payne was then rested for three overs before coming back to claim two more wickets in the first three balls of his next over. Thus, in the space of eight deliveries from Payne, Hong Kong had lost 4 wickets for the addition of only two runs and any thoughts of posting a decent score were dashed. The innings came to a tame end when Chris Dent completed his second run-out of the innings and Hong Kong was all out for 185 from 48.5 overs. Hong Kong's last six wickets had fallen for just 30 runs in the space of 11 overs.

For England U19, David Payne picked up three wickets for 28 runs from his nine over spell. Nathan Buck picked up 2-19 from 9.5 overs while Ben Stokes, Azeem Rafiq and Ateeq Javid claimed one wicket each.

England U19's reply was led by Joe Root and Chris Dent, while Hong Kong opened the bowling with Irfan Ahmed and Aizaz Khan. With the strong southerly wind at his back, Irfan was bowling at express pace - one delivery was clocked at 142km/h - but he proved to be a little wayward and expensive. Root in particular enjoyed the extra pace and creamed ten runs off Irfan's third over to effectively end the quick bowler's first spell. Aizaz was proving equally expensive and the England U19's 50 came up off just 45 balls. Niaz Ali grabbed the wicket of Chris Dent (33) but that was to be the only success that Hong Kong would enjoy on the day. Root went on to finish unbeaten on 70 from 65 balls, including one four and one six, while James Vince smashed a brilliant 76 not out off just 45 balls that included 10 fours and one six. England had cruised to their victory in just 30.1 overs. Vince was later named Man of the Match.

None of the Hong Kong U19 bowlers were spared. Niaz Ali was the only successful wicket-taker as he claimed 1-40 from six overs while Asif Khan was the most economical with 0-28 off six overs.

So England U19 take maximum points from the game while Hong Kong U19 have plenty to think about although there were a number of positives to come from the game, including the batting efforts of Nizakat Khan, Irfan Ahmed and Mark Chapman.

Scorecard: Hong Kong U19 v. England U19

Teams:

Hong Kong U19 - James Atkinson (Captain) , Irfan Ahmed, Shakeel Haq, Alex Smith, Nizakat Khan, Mark Chapman, Ashish Gadhia, Waqas Barkat (w), Asif Khan, Aizaz Khan, Niaz Ali

England U19 - Azeem Rafiq (Captain), Chris Dent, Joe Root, James Vince, Jos Buttler, Ateeq Javid, Ben Stokes, Michael Bates (w), Danny Briggs, David Payne, Nathan Buck