HARARE, Zimbabwe, CMC – Impressive half-centuries from Keagan Simmons, Emmanuel Stewart and Man-of-the-Match Bhaskar Yadram underlined a strong West Indies Under-19s batting display as they beat Zimbabwe Under-19s by 70 runs to seal a 2-1 series win here yesterday.
Sent in, the Caribbean side marched to a competitive 257 for four off their 50 overs at the Harare Sports Club with opener Simmons top-scoring with 89, captain Stewart getting 76 and Yadram, the other opener, chipping in with 65.
In reply, Zimbabwe U19s slumped to 52 for four in the 13th over thanks to an early burst from speedster Darren Nedd and never really recovered, eventually dismissed for 187 in the 43rd over.
Captain Liam Roche carved out 65 but was the only batsman to show any enterprise as no other batsman passed 20.
Nedd, who grabbed two wickets in his opening spell, finished with four for 33 overall while Yadram collected a brace of wickets with his off-spin.
In an opening five-over spell which cost 22 runs, right-armer Nedd trapped Gregory Dollar lbw for 15 in the third over and Ryan Murray for three in the seventh over, to leave the Zimbabweans rocking at 28 for two.
Yadram then accounted for 16-year-old Milton Shumba (12) and Alistair Frost (11) as the innings lurched further into decline.
Roche arrived to provide some stability, striking four boundaries in an 81-ball knock as he revived the innings in a 48-run, fifth wicket with 15-year-old Dion Myers who made 11.
The right-handed Roche also added two successive 30-run stands for the sixth and seventh wickets with Taun Harrison (12) and Wesley Madhevere (11) before perishing at 168 for eight in the 40th over.
Earlier, the Caribbean side flourished courtesy an enterprising opening stand between Simmons and Yadram who put on 113.
Simmons faced 130 balls and struck six fours while Yadram, also voted Man-of-the-Series for the second successive tour, counted eight fours in his breezy 75-ball innings.
When Yadram departed in the 25th over, Simmons added a further 111 with Stewart who faced a mere 79 balls and hit six boundaries.
Seventeen-year-old seamer Jonathan Connolly was the best bowler with two for 33.
