TOWNSVILLE, Australia, CMC – Fast bowler Justin Greaves conceded 18 runs from the final over as West Indies Under-19s squandered a final four berth in the Youth World Cup with a shocking loss to New Zealand Under-19s in a tension-filled quarter-final here yesterday.
Starting the last over as favourites to progress with the Kiwis needing 18 runs to reach their target of 238 for victory, the Caribbean side watched helplessly as Ish Sodhi blasted 17 of his eventual 22 runs, to send them to a stunning three-wicket defeat.
The Young Windies were still in with a chance with four needed from the last ball but Sodhi cracked Greaves to the ropes to set off massive celebrations among the New Zealand camp.
Sent in, West Indies tallied 237 all out off their 50 overs with Akeal Hosein top-scoring with 54 and captain Kraigg Brathwaite getting 53.
Fast bowler Matthew Quinn finished with three for 54 while Sodhi, twirling his leg-breaks, captured two for 36 and seamer Jacob Duffy, two for 42.
New Zealand got a top score of 59 from Ben Horne and 42 from Robert O’Donnell but struggled to keep up with the required run rate throughout, and were left needing nine per over in the last ten.
However, Cameron Fletcher played responsibly for 49 before Connor Neynens (25) and Sodhi produced late order cameos to leave the West Indians shell-shocked. Sodhi took a boundary off the first ball of the last over from Greaves but a single and a leg bye off the next two deliveries still left the Kiwis with 12 runs needed from three balls.
However, Sodhi cleared the ropes with Greaves off the fourth ball, scampered a couple off the fifth before sending the final delivery to the boundary.
Seamers Kyle Mayers (3-42) and Ronsford Beaton (3-47) finished with three wickets apiece.
None of this drama appeared in the script when Beaton prised out openers Joe Carter (1) and Michael Davidson (16) cheaply to leave New Zealand on 39 for two in the eighth over.
Horne and captain Will Young (8) repaired the innings with a 42-run stand for the third wicket but both batsmen fell to Mayers within eight overs of each other as the Kiwis stumbled to 104 for four in the 25th over.
Horne hit six fours and two sixes off 71 balls.
O’Donnell and Fletcher added a careful 53 for the fifth wicket off 103 balls but the partnership was a sluggish one and when O’Donnell became Mayers’ third victim after hitting two fours off 83 balls, New Zealand needed ten runs an over from the last eight.
Fletcher, who faced 72 balls and hit four fours and Neynens, who slammed four fours off just 18 deliveries, lifted the tempo with a stand off 55 off 34 balls for the sixth wicket, handing the Kiwis precious momentum for the closing overs.
Earlier, the aggressive Sunil Ambris gave West Indies a brisk start with a breezy 28-ball 35 as he put on 48 from 51 balls with Brathwaite.
Ambris struck four fours while Brathwaite faced 97 balls in a stay at the crease that lasted a shade of 2-1/2 hours and included just two fours.
Both Ambris and John Campbell (5) fell in quick succession to leave the Young Windies on 56 for two in the 12th over but Anthony Alleyne (26) joined with Brathwaite to add 40 for the third wicket.
Sodhi weighed in with a double strike as West Indies lost three wickets for 21 runs off 33 balls but Hosein and Derone Davis (26) played contrasting innings to see the score past 200.
While Hosein faced 70 balls and hit four fours, Davis’ cameo required jut 27 balls and included two fours.
West Indies will now play Pakistan in the fifth/sixth place playoff on Friday.
Scoreboard
WEST INDIES
*K Brathwaite c wkp Fletcher b Duffy 53
+S Ambris c Neynens b Duffy 35
J Campbell c Davidson b Quinn 5
A Alleyne c O’Donnell b Davey 26
K Hodge lbw b Sodhi 8
K Mayers c wkp Fletcher b Sodhi 4
A Hosein c wkp Fletcher b Quinn 54
J Greaves run out 7
D Davis c wkp Fletcher b Quinn 26
R Beaton not out 1
J Jones run out 3
Extras (b2, lb6, w7) 15
TOTAL (all out, 50 overs) 237
Fall of wickets: 1-48 (Ambris), 2-56 (Campbell), 3-96 (Alleyne), 4-108 (Hodge), 5-117 (Mayers), 6-166 (Brathwaite), 7-187 (Greaves), 8-233 (Hosein), 9-234 (Davis), 10-237 (Jones)
Bowling: Duffy 10-0-42-2 (w2), Quinn 10-0-54-3 (w2), Davey 10-1-49-1, Neynens7-0-35-0, Sodhi 10-1-36-2 (w2), Horne 3-0-13-0 (w1).
NEW ZEALAND
M Davidson c Hosein b Beaton 16
J Carter c Greaves b Beaton 1
B Horne c Hosein b Mayers 59
*W Young c Campbell b Mayers 8
R O’Donnell c Alleyne b Mayers 42
+C Fletcher c wkp Ambris b Beaton 49
C Neynens b Greaves 25
I Sodhi not out 22
J Duffy not out 0
Extras (lb6, w10) 16
TOTAL (7 wkts, 50 overs) 238
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Carter), 2-39 (Davidson), 3-81 (Young), 4-104 (Horne), 5-157 (O’Donnell), 6-212 (Neynens), 7-220 (Fletcher)
Did not bat: S Davey, M Quinn.
Bowling: Jones 10-0-53-0 (w2), Beaton 10-1-47-3 (w4), Davis 10-0-29-0 (w1), Hosein 3-0-18-0, Mayers 9-0-42-3 (w1), Greaves 8-0-43-1 (w2).
Result: New Zealand won by three wickets.
Man-of-the-Match: I Sodhi.
Toss: New Zealand.
Umpires: J Cloete, R Martinesz.
