CAPTAIN Harry Brook scored a fine century as England defeated Bangladesh by seven wickets at the John Davies Oval in Queenstown yesterday to put themselves in line to top Group C in the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup.

Brook’s 102 not out was supplemented with a fine all-round effort of 48 not out and three for 26 by Euan Woods as the 1998 champions completed a second straight win.
England are at par with Bangladesh on four points and a win over Canada tomorrow will enable them to top the group with six points, also making Bangladesh the second side to qualify for the Super League quarterfinals.

Canada remained in contention for a place in the Super League quarterfinals from Group C when they defeated Namibia by four wickets at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Christchurch.
However, to reach the Super League quarterfinals, they will have to convincingly beat England so that they can improve their net run-rate, which currently sits at -0.277 as compared to England’s +3.27 and Bangladesh’s +0.43.

While Canada are still in the running for a place in the Super League quarterfinals, Namibia, who had qualified directly for the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup 2018 as the highest-placed Associate in 2016, will now play in the Plate Championship after succumbing to their third straight defeat.
Scores in brief:

Group C
England beat Bangladesh by seven wickets, John Davies Oval, Queenstown
Bangladesh 175 all out, 49.2 overs (Afif Hossain 63, Aminul Islam 31; Ethan Bamber 3-19, Euan Woods 3-26)
England 177-3, 29.3 overs (Harry Brook 102 not out, Euan Woods 48 not out)
Player-of-the-match: Harry Brook (England)
Canada beat Namibia by four wickets, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Christchurch
Namibia 193 all out, 46 overs (Lohen Louwrens 38, Eben van Wyk 32, Erich van Mollendroff 30; Akash Gill 4-43, Rommel Shahzad 2-27, Rishiv Joshi 2-28, Aran Padmanathan 2-38)
Canada 197-6, 42 overs (Arslan Khan 72, Akash Gill 52, Kevin Singh 50 not out; Petrus Burger 2-29, Shaun Fouche 2-34)
Player-of-the-match: Akash Gill (Canada)
Today’s fixtures:
Australia v Papua New Guinea, Lincoln 3, Christchurch (Group B)
India v Zimbabwe, Bay Oval, Tauranga (Group B)
Pakistan v Sri Lanka, Cobham Oval, Whangarei (Group D)