Kiwis beat England in
under-19 thriller

A gallant attempt by England to overhaul New Zealand's 205 failed on the last ball and the host country won a thrilling contest by three runs in the Super League stage of the ICC under-19 World Cup on Monday.

But Australia's quest for 237 to beat South Africa ended successfully after an onslaught in the final 10 overs saw them home for the loss of five wickets and with 20 balls to spare.

The final over of England's chase began with them needing eight runs to win with three wickets in hand. With two balls to go they needed just four.

But Stephen Pope was bowled by an inswinging yorker from New Zealand medium pacer Peter Borren and Yorkshire's Chris Gilbert came in to face the last ball of the innings.

He swung and missed in his attempt to hit the winning runs and the game was New Zealand's.

Earlier, good work from Samit Patel (47) and Mark Pettini (36) had pushed England towards the target after they had fallen to 66 for four at one stage.

It had been revealed earlier in the day that England's players were getting 5,000 pounds ($7,060) each to take part in the competition, which caused some disquiet among the sizeable home crowd supporting New Zealand's amateurs, who were not even getting expenses.

Australia had George Bailey's 54 not out at better than a run a ball and Mark Cosgrove, with 19 off 12 balls, to see them home against South Africa with a five-over partnership for the fifth wicket of 40.

South Africa made 236 for eight with Stephen Cook and Ryan Bailey top scoring. Both made 48 before being run out by Adam Crosthwaite.

Scores:

Super league - Group 2:
New Zealand bt England by three runs. New Zealand 205 in 49.4 overs (Jesse Ryder 54, Brook Hatwell 45; Kyle Hogg 3-41), England 202-8 (Samit Patel 47; Michael Bates 3-44).

Australia bt South Africa by five wickets. South Africa 236-8 (Stephen Cook 48, Ryan Bailey 48), Australia 237-5 in 46.4 overs (Craig Simmons 52, George Bailey 54)

Plate Championship - Group 2: Nepal bt Canada by nine wickets. Canada 102 (Binod Das 3-13, Basant Regmi 3-10), Nepal 104-1 in 22.3 overs (Yashwant Subedi 41no).

Namibia bt Scotland by four wickets: Scotland 234-4 (Steven Gilmour 100no, Qamar Sheikh 60), Namibia 237-6 (Stefan Swanepoel 142; Christopher West 3-51).

Mail Cricket Editor