ICC U19 World Cup: South Africa beat West Indies by 31 runs in Potchefstroom

KATHMANDU: The much-anticipated U19 Cricket World Cup kicked off in South Africa with a classic contest between hosts South Africa and West Indies. At Potchefstroom in a nail-biter, the Proteas overcame Jewel Andrew's brilliant hundred to win a close contest. Kwena Maphaka's 5/38 proved to be vital for the hosts. 

After winning the toss, West Indies captain Stephan Pascal elected to bowl first. He backed his strong bowling line-up to do well against South Africa. Lhuan-Dre Pretorius took charge in the initial stages with a flurry of boundaries, though Deshawn James managed to grab an early wicket in the form of Steve Stolk (5), who mistimed a swipe towards the off-side where the alert Pascal took an easy catch.

On the other hand, Pretorius kept going for his shots and even hit the first six of the tournament against Nathan Sealy. However, it was Sealy who had the last laugh as he cleaned up the left-hander with a beauty in his next over. David Teeger and Richard Seletswane held the fort over the next few overs and looked to rebuild the innings.

Just as the duo were looking to pick the pace, Seletswane was run out off a direct hit from Tarrique Edward.

Oliver Whitehead came in at number five, and after surviving a close call, helped South Africa rebuild their innings. Along with Teeger, he added 48 runs for the fourth wicket. However, he was caught at mid-on after he tried to charge James down the wicket. Sealy returned to strike twice in his ninth over, removing Romashan Pillay and the set Teeger to put West Indies ahead.

Dewan Marais then let out several attacking strokes to announce his intent. This helped the skipper Juan James to settle in and go for his shots later in the innings. With a positive approach, the duo added crucial runs towards the end of the innings. Marais' impressive fifty came off merely 33 balls. He finished as the innings top-scorer with his 65 from 38.

In response, the Boys in Maroon found the going tough against the young Proteas. Left-arm pacer Kwena Maphaka ran through the top-order, picking Adrian Weir, Pascal and Joshua Dorne in the first 12 balls of his spell. An aggressive Jordan Johson tried to counter-attack but eventually fell to Riley Norton. At the end of 10 overs, West Indies were going at a healthy pace of 7.3, but had lost half their side.

Jewel Andrew and Nathan Sealy made their intentions clear by going for their shots, ensuring that West Indies moved ahead at a brisk pace. In the next 15 overs, the duo added nearly 100 runs to keep their side in the game. Just when it looked like the two had done enough to take the game away from South Africa, Sealy was run out from the deep by a direct hit at the score of 190 to add intrigue to the contest.

Andrew kept going with assistance from Tarrique and Nathan Edward. However, Maphaka and Norton struck in the later overs to run through the West Indies lower-order. Andrew's dismissal at 130 all but sealed the game for the Proteas.