England registered their first victory of the Rising Stars U19 Tri-Series, securing a hard fought 29 run victory over West Indies at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
The young English unit produced a fighting team bowling performance led by their two right-arm medium pace bowlers George Balderson (4/47) and Kasey Aldridge (3/32), that enabled them to defend what seemed like a paltry total at the mid innings mark.
“We always knew these games would be opportunities for us to learn. Today there was a lot to learn and be pleased with”, said West Indies U19 coach Graeme West.
He continued: “We got into good positions in both innings and for two consecutive games have taken 10 wickets. Also, in both games the spinners have bowled well in the middle overs.
“Overall we have work a little bit harder. Firstly by completing the 50 overs in the field (with the ball) since we tailed off a bit in the end. With the bat we made some poor decisions and that needs to be addressed moving forward.”
When off-spinner Matthew Patrick (10-2-27-3) struck with the score 114/8 in the 40th over, the West Indies were in full control of proceedings.
However England managed to resist being bowled out until the final over, due a 55-run ninth wicket partnership between top scorer Dan Mousely (48) and tailender Scott Currie (22).
During the run chase England captain and man of the match Balderson struck early dismissing Mbeki Joseph (5) and West Indies top scorer from game one Leonardo Julien (0), in the space of three deliveries, as West Indies slipped to 19/2 in the fifth over.
Captain Kimani Melius immediately began to counter attack and he was looking in brilliant form hitting two massive sixes over mid-wicket as the young West Indians were racing along at seven runs per over, when the 10 over power-play period ended.
Melius who was dropped at slip on 35 with score 49/2 in the eighth over eventually perished four short of his half century. After his dismissal, England slowly clawed their way back taking wickets at regular intervals to deny West Indies a second consecutive victory.
“Our bowlers bowlers did pretty well, it was just a case of our batsmen building partnership after we lost five wickets and rotating strike a bit more,” said Melius.
“We can always improve on our game, it’s now for the batsmen who have good starts going on to score hundreds.”
WEST INDIES RISING STARS U19 TRI- SERIES SCHEDULE
All matches take place in Antigua, starting at 9.00am
Fri, 6th Dec 2019:
ODI 1 – West Indies v England
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
Sun, 8th Dec 2019:
ODI 2 – West Indies v England
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
Tues, 10th Dec 2019
ODI 3 – West Indies v Sri Lanka
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
Wed, 11th Dec 2019
ODI 4 – England v Sri Lanka
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
Thu, 12th Dec 2019
ODI 5 – West Indies v England
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium
Sat, 14th Dec 2019
ODI 6 – West Indies v Sri Lanka
Coolidge Cricket Ground
Sun, 15th Dec 2019
ODI 7 – Sri Lanka v England
Coolidge Cricket Ground
Tue, 17th Dec 2019
ODI 8 – West Indies v Sri Lanka
Coolidge Cricket Ground
Thu, 19th Dec 2019
ODI 9 – England v Sri Lanka
Coolidge Cricket Ground
Sat, 21st Dec 2019
ODI 10 – FINAL
Coolidge Cricket Ground
-CWI
