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Ireland Under 19s lost out to the current Under 19 World Champions by 4 wickets after a valiant effort in Lincoln overnight.
Ireland’s under 19s lost by 4 wickets, with 10 balls to spare, against the West Indies in the Plate Quarter-Final of the ICC Under 19 World Cup.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Ireland scored a fantastic 278 but some big hitting from the Caribbean youngsters proved too much in the end.
Ireland had recovered from the early loss of Jamie Grassi (11) through Mark Donegan (38) and Morgan Topping (17). However the loss of Donegan, Topping and then Sam Murphy left the Irish side reeling at 76/4.

This merely brought captain Harry Tector and Rush CC’s Neil Rock to the middle and the beginning of the crucial partnership in the Irish innings. Tector and Rock put on 116 runs for the 5th wicket before Tector went for 65 which included eight boundaries.

Rock wasn’t finished there however. He put on 48 with Josh LIttle (24) for the 6th wicket and a further 30 with Graham Kennedy for the 7th. Neil Rock’s innings eventually came to a close in the final over, with the scent of a century possibly entering his mind. When he fell it was for 91 off 101 balls with 9 boundaries and 1 maximum.

With Graham Kennedy smashing two boundaries of his own and JJ Garth hitting his only ball faced for three runs, Ireland pushed their total up to 278/8 off the 50 overs.

The West Indies set about chasing the target of 279 with impressive striking and shot making. Bhaskar Yadram smashed a 48 ball half-century and pushed the score to 75 before Morgan Topping struck to take the first wicket for the Irish side.

When Melius was out for 21 and then Athanaze was run out by Harry Tector 3, the West Indies were 109/3 and the Ireland sensed an opportunity to continue taking wickets and building pressure.

It wasn’t to be however, as a half-century from the captain Stewart and 46 from Kallicharan always had the West Indies ahead of the required rate.

Even when Ireland took those two wickets, Nyeem Young came in at number 7 to smash a 33 ball 55 not out to see West Indies home and pick up the Player of the Match award for himself too.

Ireland for their part, battled superbly throughout and despite the boundary hitting they faced, never wilted and took the defending champions all the way.

Next up for Ireland is a 13th place play-off match against PNG, who were beaten by Canada by 80 runs, on Thursday January 25th at 10.30 am (Wednesday 9.30 pm Irish time)

Ireland U19 v West Indies U19, ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Plate Quarter Final, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln, New Zealand

West Indies won by 4 wickets

Ireland 278/8 (50 Overs) Neil Rock 91, Harry Tector 69, Mark Donegan 38; Royal 3-59, Alimohamed 2-31

West Indies 281/6 (48.2/50 Overs) Young 55*, Yadram 53, Stewart 50; Max Neville 2-53, Harry Tector 1-37, Morgan Topping 1-40

The captains Tector and Stewart at the toss today
Yes
Connaught