Scotland, Canada score narrow wins

Scotland and Canada were involved in thrilling wins in their respective play-off matches of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

At the Shaikh Zayed International Cricket Stadium, Scotland escaped with a narrow five-run victory over Namibia in the 13^th place play-off, while at the Nursery Oval 2, Canada got over the line against Papua New Guinea by 11 runs, in the 15^th place play-off.

Pacers Abdul Sabri and Nick Farrar shared six wickets to script Scotland’s win. Opting to bat, Scotland made 178, riding on a 36 from Alex Baum and a 34 from Michael English to help them recover from a poor start. Marius Delport, Jano Coetzee, Brand and Wessells snapped up two wickets each, for Namibia.

Namibia lost wickets at regular intervals despite a fighting 32 by opener Joshuan Julius. And the chase looked as good as over but Bredell Wessells and Kobus Brand sparked visions of a win by putting on 28 runs for the final wicket. But Sabri turned hero for Scotland by having Wessells caught by Ross McLean. Wessells made 29. Namibia folded up for 173 in the 46^th over. Farrar had figures of 3 for 33, while Sabri took three for 38.

In the other game, Papua New Guinea had restricted Canada to 169 and were well on course to victory after they had made 150 for the loss of seven wickets, with 32 balls still remaining. But a collapse in which they lost four wickets in 21 deliveries meant, they fell short by 11 runs. PNG finished with 158.