da blaze casino： England’s Under-19s got off to a winning start in their opening World Cup Group match
Andrew McGlashan06-Feb-2006
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Moeen Ali with his Man-of-the-Match award after his fifty against Nepal © Getty Images
England were made to work hard in their opening match of the World Cup, asa talented Nepal team gave them more than the occasional moment ofuncertainty. Moeen Ali was the lone batsman to pass fifty, as Nepal’sspinners tied down the middle order. However, that was nothing compared tothe stranglehold the England slow bowlers subsequently created and,despite a promising start, Nepal’s run chase subsided meekly.When Nepal reached 41 without loss in pursuit of 210, the possibility ofthe first upset in the tournament flickered into view. KanishkaChaugai, Nepal’s captain and playing in his third U-19 World Cup, had laid intoMark Nelson and Andrew Miller operating with the new ball. However, playinga ball through the off side, Chaugai grabbed his leg and it soon becameclear he was suffering a repeat of the cramp that affected him during thewarm-up matches.Ali, who has already impressed as England’s captain in Sri Lanka, pulledhis team together for a mid-over huddle. He later told Cricinfo that itis something they have been doing for a while: “When things are not goingour way we just want to get everyone together. It’s something that worksat the moment so we will continue doing it.”As in the warm-up match against India, Ali was not afraid to throw theball to his spinners early in the innings. Graeme White was in action bythe seventh over and, in tandem with fellow left-armer Nick James,produced an extraordinary example of containment. The first 27 balls fromthe pair leaked just one run, and the pressure was telling on theanxious batsmen. The inevitable then occurred when Sarad Vesawkar smackedthe ball to mid-off, only to watch his partner fail to get within two metersof making his ground.Between overs seven and 21, White, James and Ali conceded a miserly 17runs as Nepal couldn’t decide whether to stick or twist and threatened tofold. Prem Chaudhary finally decided to chance his arm, taking two foursoff Ali before creaming a four and six off White – who had previously gonefor only six runs in 8.4 overs.Run outs, though, were always on the cards as skittish batsmencontinued to flirt with danger. They lived on the edge while there weretwo of them out there – the introduction of a runner when Chaugai returnedto the middle was always going to be a recipe for calamity. So it proved, and Nepal’slast real chance of pressuring England’s total vanished when Chaudhary wasremoved by a smart piece of fielding from James.England’s fine display in the field was capped by a stunning catch fromWhite, who ran backwards from midwicket, flung out his right hand while diving athletically and grabbed the ball inches off the turf. The whole team were ecstatic,but Ali was quick to admit it was a far from ideal performance.”We didn’t play anywhere near our best cricket,” he said. “We were luckyto get 209 in the end, then we had a bad start with the bowling butfortunately we finished strongly. But after hearing that the Aussiesgot 300 plus yesterday we wanted something similar but couldn’t manage itso that is something to work on for the next game.”Ali added that he had “really struggled” during his 54, but without itEngland would really have been in a pickle. From the comfort of 87 for 1the innings stalled dramatically as Nepal’s spinners probed away. England weren’t exempt from running issues either. They managed three, includingRory Hamilton-Brown’s passable impression of Mike Atherton at Lord’s in1993, scrambling on his hands and knees to fall well short of his crease.In the end, England stood up and dusted themselves off from their battingdisappointments, ensuring their World Cup run was off to a winning start.Nepal, though, have shown that they are not simply here to make up the numbers.They have plenty of heart and skill; the other teams in this group could well be in for a surprise.