Rain ends Windies' chances of ICC U19 World Cup semis

RAIN drowned all chances of the West Indies U19 team advancing to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup semifinals on February 2 as their final Super Six match against Australia was abandoned at Diamond Oval, Kimberley, South Africa.

Lightning strikes cut short West Indies’ chase as batsmen Joshua Dorne (nine not out) and Jordan Johnson (four not out) returned to the pavilions at 24/2, in pursuit of Australia’s target of 228 for victory.

The batsmen never returned to the middle, as the heavens opened soon after for over an hour, forcing the match to be abandoned.

It was an unlucky result for the young maroon who finished on five points, just outside the current top two semifinal-bound in Group B, Australia on seven points with a net run rate of +2.781 and hosts South Africa on six pts and a NRR of +1.683.

The Windies U19 are third in Group B of the Super Six, with a NRR of +0.134 and no remaining matches.

Group A leaders India also progressed to the semis with a 132-run victory over Nepal on Friday while second- and third-placed Pakistan and Bangladesh battle it out on Saturday for the final semi-final slot.

Batting first at De Beers Diamond Oval in South Africa, Australia posted a competitive 227/8 as they did well to bounce back from 87/5 after 26 overs.

Sam Konstas led their charge with a well-worked 108 from 121 balls. Rafael Macmillan (29) and skipper Hugh Weibgen (22) also chipped in with the bat.

Left-arm fast bowler Nathan Edward (3/32) finished with the best figures while Isai Thorne (2/50) took a couple.

In reply, West Indies U19s lost the two early wickets of Dorne (nine) and skipper Stephan Pascal (eight) with just 20 runs on the board. Only four more runs were added, after 4.3 overs, before the umpires opted to stop play.

The semifinals will be held on February 6 and 8. The final bowls off on February 11. The semifinals and final bowl off in Benoni.