U19 Men’s CWC: Rain plays spoilsport on first day of warm-ups

The first day of warm-up fixtures of the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup was adversely affected by rain, with three of the four matches abandoned.

Despite that, there were still eye-catching contests in the time play was possible.

We round up all the action below.

South Africa vs Pakistan

Toss: Pakistan opted to bat

Result: Match abandoned

Pakistan got off to a less-than-ideal start after winning the toss and opting to bat first, losing both their openers for a duck.

Captain Saad Baig (31) then anchored the innings, steering the middle order along with contributions from Ahmed Hassan (38) and Haroon Arshad (36).

In a late surge, Ubaid Shah brought out the fireworks, smashing 37 off just 16 balls, laced with five maximums. His unbeaten cameo propelled Pakistan past the 200-run mark to set a target of 212 for South Africa.

Pacer Kwena Maphaka was South Africa's standout bowler, claiming three wickets in five overs.

Rain disrupted South Africa's chase, allowing only 8.3 overs of play before the match was eventually called off.

USA vs Namibia

Toss: Namibia opted to field

Result: Match abandoned

Namibia sent in USA to bat, and had to contend with a solid stand between Prannav Chettipalayam and Siddarth Kappa. Though the former fell around the mid-innings mark, Kappa kept going, reaching a splendid hundred on the way. 

With handy contributions from Rishi Ramesh (23) and Utkarsh Srivastava (23), USA posted a solid 268.

The Namibia openers Gerhard Janse van Rensburg and Hansie de Villiers began the chase well, however, putting together a solid 44 before Rayaan Bhagani broke through for USA. 

JW Visagie and van Rensburg attempted to put on another partnership but rain then interrupted play, and no further action was possible.

India vs Australia

Toss: India opted to bat

Result: Match abandoned

India's decision to bat first after winning the toss didn’t play out as they’d hoped as the Australian bowlers quickly dismantled their top order. 

With all of the top four batsmen dismissed for single-digit scores, India were in a precarious situation. However, Uday Saharan's captain's innings salvaged the situation for India, as he played a lone hand to score 74 off 104 balls to get the team to a respectable total of 171.

Charlie Anderson led the Australian bowling attack, claiming a four-wicket haul, while Rafael MacMillan and Callum Vidler chipped in with two wickets each.

The Australian batters suffered a similar fate to India, with Callum Vidler the top-scorer with 11 runs among the top four.

Australia had an uphill task at 53/4 when rain played spoilsport and the third warm-up match of the day was abandoned without result.

Scotland vs Nepal

Toss: Scotland opted to bat 

Result: Nepal won by seven wickets (DLS method)

In the only match of the day that ended in a result, Nepal triumphed over Scotland after three-wicket hauls from Gulshan Jha and Tilak Bhandari. 

Scotland captain Owen Gould decided to bat first, but after a 23-run opening stand between Jamie Dunk and Alec Price, the Nepal bowlers were all over Scotland. 

Jha began the slide with a two-wicket over, and Nepal went on to take complete control of the innings. 

A three-for from Jha was complemented by another three-wicket haul from leg-spinner Tilak Bhandari, and Scotland were skittled out for merely 114. Uzair Ahmad was the top-scorer with his 31.

Mackenzie Jones struck early for Scotland but a solid second-wicket stand between Arjun Kumal and Aakash Tripathi helped Nepal close in on the target. 

The Asian side eventually triumphed by seven wickets.

ENDS