A solid bowling effort bookended with a dominant display with the bat from the England U19s decisively vanquished the junior Proteas in the first of the quarterfinal matches of the ICC Under-19 World Cup.
It was another familiar top-order stumble for South Africa, as Cunningham and Kitime were both dismissed cheaply within the first 7 overs. However, the rebuilding process began rather smoothly with the unsurprisingly in-form Dewald Brevis continuing his imperious run in the tournament.
Brevis began watchfully, but periodically found the boundary to keep the scoreboard ticking along. Gerhardus Maree proved to be a handy second fiddle. Both batters adeptly played the English spinners, with Maree hitting a six and a four off legspinner Rehan Ahmed.
Just when the Proteas were gradually gaining momentum, offspinner Jacob Bethell struck at a vital stage and bowled Maree around his legs.
Middle order wickets continued to tumble but Brevis remained confident and innovative against the spinners. Unfortunately, when he was right on the precipice of a second ton in this tournament, he sliced a leading edge to cover off James Sales. It was a soft dismissal that ended a threatening innings, and it looked like South Africa would fold for a sub-200 total.
There was another small twist when Matthew Boast and Asakhe Tsaka struck a few crucial boundaries towards the end of the innings. They built a priceless 40-run partnership, but an attempt to get a quick single accounted for the final wicket to close SA’s innings at 209.
It was a reasonably competitive score at halftime, but Jacob Bethell’s onslaught brushed aside any chances of the Proteas gaining any further ground.
Matthew Boast and Aphiwe Mnyanda often provided key inroads in the earlier games, but both were taken to the cleaners in the first 10 overs. Bethell brought up a 20-ball half century – the fastest of the tournament – in the 6th over. And by the time 10 overs were complete, England had already wiped out nearly half of the target.
Tsaka ended the fireworks, when Bethell mistimed a slog sweep straight to Cunningham at deep midwicket. However, that hardly deterred the England batters from continuing in a similar manner. A combination of lackluster bowling from the South Africans with well-planned aggression from Tom Prest and William Luxton swiftly brought England closer to the finish line.
In the end, it was a rather straightforward victory, and a well-deserved reward for a team that played clinical cricket all around.
SA 209 in 43.4 overs (Brevis 97 – Rehan Ahmed 10-1-48-4)
ENG 212/4 in 31.2 overs (Bethell 88, Luxton 47* – Brevis 6.2-0-40-2)
