Ireland, Kenya register narrow wins

Hosts Ireland, Kenya, Namibia and Scotland registered wins on the second day of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Dublin, Ireland.

For the second successive day, rain affected the start time of most of the games, but some more thrilling contests were witnessed again.

Ireland managed to hold the nerves against the much vaunted Afghanistan side at the North County Cricket Club. Ireland batted first and posted 212 in its 50 overs, after having earlier slipped to 86 for 6. Andrew McBrine (50: 70b, 6x4) revived the Ireland innings and later Barry McCarthy weighed in with a brisk 47 to help propel Ireland to a challenging target.

In the chase, Afghanistan was well served by Hashmatullah Shaidi (46), Rahmatullah Sahag (46) and Nasir Ahmadzai (42). But a late order collapse meant that Afghanistan slipped from 162 for four to be bowled out for 208 off the final ball of the match. Afghanistan has now lost both its opening games.

McBrine was named Man of the Match for his knock. A thrilled McBrine is now looking to keep his good work going: ''It was a very uncertain match. It was very entertaining for the crowd that turned up. The two wins in two days shows that we gel well as a side and back each other well. We respond well in tight situations. We were always in control. The Afghan batsmen batted well, but they were slow upfront. Next game on Sunday against Scotland is a big one and the boys are up for it.''
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At the Hills Cricket Club, Kenya pulled off a win over Canada by 15 runs. Kenya, after opting to bat first, looked to be in trouble at 47 for four. But Duncan Allan (103: 130b, 8x4, 3x6) joined forces with Joseph Ochieng (73: 109b, 5x4, 1x6) to change the fortunes of Kenya with a 136-run fifth wicket stand. Canada appeared to be in cruise control in the chase with the score at 112 for 1. But a middle-order collapse handed the initiative right back to Kenya with Allan picking up 2-41 to back up his batting effort.

Allan won his second straight Man of the Match award. ''From the position we were in to get 215 was a great effort. Full credit to Ochieng for his support. We fought hard. I thought 230-240 would have been a par score. But we pulled things back while bowling. They were cruising, but a huge credit to the bowlers. This competition is now wide open. The results over the past couple of days have shown that there are no favourites in this tournament.''

Scotland proved to be too strong for Nepal at the Merrion Cricket Club. Scotland batted first after a rain delay and was bowled out for 214 in 49 overs. Freddie Coleman?s 81 off 102 balls with six boundaries negated Nepal bowler Bhuwan Karki?s 5 for 41. Nepal captain Prithu Baskota (67: 117b, 5x4, 2x6) played a lone hand in the chase as wickets fell at regular intervals.

Man of the Match Coleman was happy to have played a part in the win: ''Conditions were pretty tough. We needed to handle a lot of spinners, because it skidded off a lot. We looked to hit to down the ground and hit as straight as we could. I looked to bat through the innings and play low risk cricket. I thought 200 would be par a score. The chase was tough because it taking a lot more spin towards the end. This makes up for yesterday's loss to Canada.''

Namibia registered the most comprehensive win of the day at YMCA over Vanuatu. Namibia bowlers shot out Vanuatu for a meagre 125 in 46.5 overs. An all-round performance by Wian van Vuuren (3-27 and 40) was the cornerstone of Namibia?s impressive six-wicket win. van Vuuren's all-round performance fetched him the Man of the Match award.

A fan of Sachin Tendulkar, van Vuuren hopes to emulate his hero: ''I was just trying to be positive. We wanted to work according to plan given by the coach (Johann Rudolph). We wanted to get them out as early as possible. We back ourselves to do well in this tournament. I work hard on my batting and bowling. I enjoy to get on with it as a batsman. When I came to bowl, a partnership was building. My role was to keep the runs and build the pressure. I am glad it worked out well and wickets started to fall.??

An update on the game between Papua New Guinea and USA follows shortly.

Tomorrow is a rest day in the tournament, action will resume on Sunday 31 July. On Sunday, USA plays Namibia at North County, Vanuatu takes on Canada at Merrion, Kenya and Nepal go head to head at Railway Union, Ireland plays Scotland at The Hill and Afghanistan takes on PNG at Leinster.

Score summaries (Day Two):

At North County: Ireland U19 212 all out, 50 overs (McBrine 50, McCarthy 47; Ahmadzai 3-56, Shirzai 2-34)
Afghanistan U19 208 all out, 50 overs (Shaidi 46, Sahaq 46, Ahmadzai 42; McCarter 2-53, Coughlan 2-27, Dockrell 2-32)
Ireland U19 won by four runs

At Merrion Cricket Club: Scotland U19 214 all out, 49 overs (Coleman 81, Bailwal 39; Karki 5-41)
Nepal U19 157 all out, 45.3 overs (Baskota 67; Sadler 4-33, Bailwal 2-29)
Scotland U19 won by 57 runs

At The Hills Cricket Club: Kenya U19 215 for 7, 50 overs (Allan 103, Ochieng 73; Aulakh 3-31, Kumar 3-26)
Canada U19 200 all out, 49.1 overs (Shah 51, Dutta 55; Ringera 4-44, Allan 2-41)
Kenya U19 won by 15 runs

At YMCA: Vanuatu U19 125 all out, 46.5 overs (Nipiko 37 n.o., Matautaava 35; Coombe 3-20, Lungameni 2-21, van Vuuren 3-27)
Namibia U19 131 for 4, 25.4 overs (J Baard 37, van Vuuren 40; Samuel 3-46)
Namibia U19 won by six wickets