England Men's U19 suffer first defeat of World Cup

England Men's U19 lost to West Indies Men's U19 by 2 wickets

England finished the group stage of the Under 19s World Cup with a defeat to West Indies on Friday. The result was not enough to stop England from staying ahead of West Indies in Group B, by virtue of their superior net run rate.

West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl first. For the first time in the tournament England lost early wickets. Hamza Sheikh top scored for England with 54, as England made 192 before being bowled out in the 47th over.

Dom Kelly took an early wicket for England, thanks to an excellent catch from captain Ben McKinney, to reduce West Indies to one down without scoring. West Indies responded through captain Stephan Pascal, who top scored for them with 58, before England's spinners got them back into the game. Tazeem Ali and Farhan Ahmed were once again impressive as they finished with 3-34 and 2-33 respectively. Nathan Edward eventually getting the West Indies across the line in the 41st over with 49 not out.

England top run scorer Sheikh reflected on the match: "It was a tough day today on a slightly slow, used wicket, where the ball gripped a bit. We were hoping for a bit more with the bat, around 240/250, but to get to 190 from the position where we lost early wickets was a decent effort.

"Personally wearing the England shirt is always a great honour and it is a great opportunity to represent the three lions in the World Cup.

"We had two good games before this, but the West Indies turned up well today. We were always expecting to have a game like this at some point in this tournament, whether it was today or further down the line in the competition. So it is good to have that game now, so the boys have experienced performing under pressure in the group stage. We can take that experience onto the super six."

England Men U19 World Cup Fixtures

Saturday 20 January: England Men U19 beat Scotland U19 by 7 wickets

Tuesday 23 January: England Men U19 beat South Africa U19 by 36 runs (DLS Method)

Friday 26 January: England Men U19 lost to West Indies U19 by 2 wickets

Tuesday 30 January - Saturday 3 February: ICC Men's U19 World Cup Super Six, 8am

Tuesday 6 and Thursday 8 February: ICC Men's U19 World Cup Semi-Finals, 8am

Sunday 11 February: ICC Men's U19 World Cup Final, 8am