Nepal run England close

Nepal came within 37 runs of defeating England at the Under-19 World Cup here. England scored 204 for 5 in 50 overs batting first in the Group C match while Nepal replied with 167 all out in the last of their 50 overs.

Nepal came within 37 runs of defeating England at the Under-19 World Cup here. England scored 204 for 5 in 50 overs batting first in the Group C match while Nepal replied with 167 all out in the last of their 50 overs.

England had struggled to score against Nepal's array of talented spinners. Gordon Muchall, their leading scorer, took 105 balls to reach 57. Bilal Shafayat made an unbeaten 45 to inflate England's total and the captain, Nicky Peng, made 36.

The Nepal captain, Binod Das, took 1 for 38 from 10 overs while the left-armer, Sakthi Gauchan, took 1 for 34. In reply, they found themselves on 102 for 7, but Sanjam Regmi hit five fours in an innings of 35 from 34 balls to take Nepal close.

Elsewhere in the pool stage, there were some freakishly heavy scores, following on from Australia's win over Kenya by 430 runs on Sunday, in which they made 480 for 6.

Yesterday, West Indies crushed Scotland by 301 runs, with Donovan Pagon making 176 and Llendl Simmons 121 as the West Indies reached 402 for 5 before dismissing Scotland for 101. India beat Canada by 242 runs in a Group A match in Auckland, making 356 for 5 and bowling out Canada for 114.