England Men U19s close on semi-final place

England moved a step closer to qualifying for the semi-finals of the 2026 ICC Men’s U19s World Cup with a comfortable seven-wicket win against Bangladesh in Bulawayo.

The Young Lions cruised to their fourth successive victory to start the tournament after bowling Bangladesh out for 136.

Joe Moores provided the highlight of a razor-sharp performance in the field, with a stunning one-handed diving catch in the gully, as England’s bowlers again shared the wickets. All six bowlers claimed at least one wicket with Middlesex right-armer Sebastian Morgan’s three for 28 the best of the figures.

Captain Thomas Rew then led the chase with an unbeaten 59 from 50 balls while the tournament’s leading runscorer Ben Mayes struck 34. England reached their target with 25.5 overs to spare.

The win moved England top of Group 2 with a maximum six points ahead of their final Super Sixes match against New Zealand on Friday. Their place in the last four may be confirmed before that match, should Pakistan fail to beat New Zealand tomorrow.

“The way that we bowled up top was unbelievable. The bowlers deserve all the credit - to keep them to under 140 on that wicket was an unbelievable effort,” Rew, who was named Player of the Match, said at the post-match presentation.

“We pride ourselves on our fielding. We work hard every single training session with our fielding coach – he pushes us to our best so to see us pull off some of those catches is an incredible feeling.

“We didn’t chat about how quickly we wanted to (chase down the target). We were just speaking about being there at the end. Me and Maysey bat well together, we have a good relationship so to share another partnership was a nice touch.”

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