Match Report: Ireland Under-19s vs USA U-19s

Ireland played their last Group B game at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup last night against rivals USA, who had beaten the Irish youth side just a few weeks previous. This time, the men in green came out victorious, to finish third in Group B with 2 points.

USA won the toss and chose to bat first. They started well, with opener Steven Taylor scoring 57 before being bowled by a back-on-form Andrew Balbirnie, who bowled his best game of the tournament. Strong batting from Gregory Sewidal and Saqib Saleem put America in a comfortable position, but after Ryan Corns was run out on 31, the US charge was halted. Saleem hung on for a while longer, but no other American batsman made double figures. They were all out for 217 after 48.1 overs.

This was made possible by an inspirational seven balls from Lee Nelson, who took three wickets and allowed only three runs to finish up the match. Craig Young also took three wickets, with Balbirnie, George Dockrell, and Paul Stirling all picking up one a piece.

While Balbirnie may have been potent with the ball, his final outing of the tournament was yet another poor inning with the bat. He made just 3 runs in 29 minutes, and was bowled lbw by Ahmad. Stuart Thompson and Paul Stirling made a fine partnership, with Thompson making a fine 27 runs. Stirling however, was the out and out man of the match, lasting over two hours, facing 104 balls, scoring 12 fours and a six, and posting a wonderful score of 114 runs. His partnerships with Ackland and Nelson didn't last as long, with Ackland scoring 16 and Nelson out for a duck. Ryan Corns was to thank for both wickets, but it was not enough for USA. Graham McDonnell finished off the match with Stuart Poynter, making 40 runs between them, and hitting the required target with 6 overs left.

Ireland will now move onto the Plate competition to determine the best team who didn't make it out of the group stage. They will play Zimbabwe in the first round.