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PALMERSTON NORTH (New Zealand) Pakistan remained top of Group 'D' in the ICC Under-19 World Cup after chalking up their second win with a comfortable six-wicket success over Papua New Guinea (PNG) here on Monday.
A very dominant bowling performance had PNG wrapped up for 99 in 37.3 overs and in reply Pakistan overcame a terrible start to win with 191 balls remaining.
PNG, after opting to bat, got off to a bad start. Fayyaz Butt's two wickets in the sixth over left them hurting at 17-2, and it only got worse as Usman Qadir spun a web with his variety of leg-spin.
He immediately made inroads, having the opener Heni Siaka stumped for 17, and then picked off three more wickets in a teasing spell.
Fellow spinner Shahzaib Ahmed turned his arm over and netted great figures of 2-8 from 6.3 overs.
PNG put up a great start with the ball to give themselves some lift, but their total was never going to challenge a strong batting line-up. Raymond Haoda and Timothy Mou took out Pakistan's openers without a run on the board but couldn't strike early to dislodge the next pair.
Opener Babar Azam and skipper Azeem Ghumman rattled away a stand of 65 in quick time and when Azeem departed for a 43-ball 40 there were only 33 needed to win. Babar finished the job with an unbeaten 40.
England also topped their group with a facile win over Afghanistan in Christchurch, their second in a row. It was another poor batting display from Afghanistan who were bowled out for 126 in 47.2 overs.
Nathan Buck struck thrice with the new ball to leave Afghanistan hemorrhaging at 10-3, after which the middle-order pair of Hashmatullah Shaidi (41 from 58 balls) and Khushal Rasooli (29 from 83) held up England for a while.
But even their stand was not too last too threatening, as Azeem Rafiq and Danny Briggs, bowling a tidy right-and-left-arm spin combo, shared five wickets to check the lower middle order and the tail. Briggs was especially successful with 3 for 15 from his quota.
England's top order then went about their minimal target with confidence. Joe Root made 25 in an opening stand of 52 with Chris Dent, who stayed on to finish the game with an unbeaten 52. James Vince continued his form with 47 from 48 balls.
The day's theme of stronger sides usurping minnows continued in Queenstown, where South Africa beat USA by eight wickets.
Josh Richards' decision to field proved the right one, as South Africa's bowlers dismissed USA for 163 in 49.5 overs and the chase was an easy one.
Canada proved no match for Sri Lanka in Lincoln, where they were all out for 142 chasing a target of 277.
Sri Lanka put up a strong total thanks to a steady stream of performances across the order and then their bowlers knocked over Canada cheaply, with captain Chathura Peiris taking five wickets with his medium-pacers.
Scoreboard
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
H. Siaka st Anop b Usman 17
L. Siaka c Azeem b Fayyaz 11
J.B. Reva c Hammad b Fayyaz 0
T.P. Ura b Usman 23
C.J.A. Amini c Azeem b Shahzaib 19
V.L. Oala c Hammad b Usman 1
S. Bau not out 11
J. Kila c Ahmed Shahzad b Usman 4
S. Eno run out 3
R.C. Haoda lbw b Raza 0
T.H. Mou st Anop b Shahzaib 0
EXTRAS (LB-5, W-5) 10
TOTAL (all out, 37.3 overs) 99
FALL OF WKTS 1-17, 2-17, 3-36, 4-77, 5-80, 6-84, 7-91, 8-98, 9-98.
BOWLING Fayyaz Butt 5-2-12-2 (1w); Hammad Azam 4-1-14-0 (1w); Raza Hasan 8-3-14-1; Usman Qadir 10-0-35-4 (1w); Babar Azam 4-0-11-0 (2w); Shahzaib Ahmed 6.3-2-8-2.
PAKISTAN
Ahmed Shahzad c Eno b Haoda 0
Ahsan Ali lbw b Mou 0
Babar Azam not out 40
Azeem Ghumman c Kila b Reva 40
Rameez Aziz c H. Siaka b Haoda 7
Hammad Azam not out 5
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-1, W-3) 8
TOTAL (for four wkts, 18.1 overs) 100
FALL OF WKTS 1-0, 2-0, 3-67, 4-82.
DID NOT BAT Anop Ravi Santosh, Usman Qadir, Raza Hasan, Shahzaib Ahmed, Fayyaz Butt.
BOWLING Haoda 7.1-2-44-2; Mou 6-0-22-1 (2w); Reva 3-0-8-1 (1w); Amini 2-0-21-0.
RESULT Pakistan won by six wickets.
UMPIRES N.G. Bagh (Denmark) and I.N. Ramage (Scotland).
MATCH REFEREE B.L. Aldridge (New Zealand).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH Usman Qadir.
Results of other matches
At Village Green, Christchurch England beat Afghanistan by nine wickets.
AFGHANISTAN 126 in 47.2 overs (Hashmatullah Shaidi 41; D.R. Briggs 3-15, N.L. Buck 3-18, Azeem Rafiq 2-29); ENGLAND127-1 in 25.5 overs (C.D.J. Dent 53 not out, J.M. Vince 47 not out).
At Queenstown Events Centre South Africa beat USA by eight wickets.
USA 163 in 49.5 overs (G.R. Sewdial 41; D.R. Deeb 3-23, G.I. Hume 3-29, S. Smith 2-39); SOUTH AFRICA166-2 in 35.1 overs (D.A. Hendricks 75 not out, C.N. Ackermann 64 not out).
At Lincoln No 3 Sri Lanka beat Canada by 134 runs.
SRI LANKA 276-6 in 50 overs (P.B.B. Rajapaksa 68, M.D.U.S. Jayasundera 43, M.A.P. Fernando 43 not out; H. Patel 3-45); CANADA 142 in 39.3 overs (H. Patel 69; K.P.C.M. Peiris 5-25, M.D.U.S. Jayasundera 2-26).
