In-form England relishing unbeaten start at U19WC
Captain Thomas Rew confirms England's Under-19 World Cup campaign has all gone to plan after two Group games.
England have set themselves up for a deep run at the ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup, collecting back-to-back wins to launch their campaign in style.
Following a 37-run victory against Pakistan, the English followed that up with an eight-wicket win against Zimbabwe.
Fielding first, their bowlers were made to dig deep against Zimbabwe's middle-order, providing their unit with a strong hitout.
England power past Zimbabwe | Match Highlights | U19 CWC 2026
It leaves them primed to qualify top of Group C heading into the Super Six stage of the tournament, with a date with Scotland scheduled for Wednesday.
Their batting unit are full of confidence, taking just 28 overs to reel in Zimbabwe's total. Captain Thomas Rew was central in the chase, scoring an unbeaten 86 off 66 deliveries. He was well supported by Ben Mayes (77* off 72), with the pair putting on a 167-run stand for the third wicket.
"We were just trying to enjoy it," Rew said post-game, unpacking his partnership with Mayes.
"We spoke a little bit about taking down the bowlers down wind ... (it was) a short boundary, (thinking) about how we can target that, pressure them from that end and then from the other end, just rotate strike. But yeah, we're both aggressive naturally ... we were just quite happy banging on with it."
A comprehensive performance from Ben Mayes | Player Highlights | U19 CWC 2026
Rew also credited the fight of his bowling unit, that was challenged by a number of Zimbabwe's batters. Manny Lumsden was chief destroyer with figures of 3/38 from his 10 overs.
"I think the way that we came back ... and broke those partnerships and then just banged away at the top of the stumps," he continued.
"The wicket was definitely better than when we played on it previously, but I think our bowlers did a great job to restrict them to under 210."
Rew's fiery knock guides the chase | POTM Highlights | U19 CWC 2026
"We're (all) very happy inside the group. To go two-from-two and take a bit of momentum into the final group game, yeah we're in a good spot.
"(We're) definitely targeting the top of the group, but we try to take every game at a time, not be complacent, and then (we've) obviously still got Scotland (on Wednesday), which is going to be a good game out here again. So, looking forward to that."