Bermuda 221

Ireland 201

Bermuda's Under-19 national team proved there is still hope for local cricket when they pulled off a riveting 20-run win over fellow ICC Associates Ireland at the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia yesterday.

For the first time during the tournament, Bermuda fired on all cylinders with senior players Malachi Jones, Rodney Trott and Chris Douglas all contributing significantly to the historical win at the Royal Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur.

Skipper Trott and Jones produced a 107-run, fifth-wicket partnership that provided the backbone for Bermuda's highest total of the tournament to date, while off-spinner Douglas inflicted heavy damage with the ball on the way to compiling highly impressive figures of five for 40 on a track offering bounce and a pinch of turn.

"We made history today and the boys deserve every bit of credit for their efforts," said an elated coach Andre (Doc) Manders. "This was a total team effort and a very joyous occasion and we are so proud of the boys.

"Everybody played their part and it was good to see the boys bounce back after successive losses against Bangladesh and England."

After being sent in to bat, an all too familiar story began to unfold as Bermuda were quickly reduced to 64 for four.

But Jones and Trott thrived under pressure and batted Bermuda out of trouble, with both batsmen thumping half centuries to finally put an end to a lean spell with the bat.

Jones dominated the stand, clubbing seven fours and a six in a swashbuckling 58 that arrived off 78 balls, while Trott hit a more sedated 64 off 94 deliveries, gathering six fours along the way.

"Malachi and Rodney definitely came through for us with that century stand," Manders said.

Jones also added 36 runs for the third-wicket along with opener Chris Douglas after Bermuda had stumbled to 15 for two.

Douglas, Bermuda's most consistent batsman at the tournament so far, hit a patient 27 that included a solitary boundary off 40 balls.

The Islanders' tail then wagged as all-rounder Jordan DeSilva, who has shone with both bat and ball, added a brisk 26 off 32 balls in a 27-run ninth-wicket stand with spinner Tamauri Tucker (ten not out) that proved decisive.

There were 22 extras.

"Thanks to Jordan and Tamauri we were able to get past the 200 run mark and beyond," Manders said.

Ireland made a good fight of it in their reply, but eventually lost their way as Douglas sliced through the order with consumate ease.

The promising all-rounder took only four deliveries to break up a 91-run second wicket stand between Chris Doughty (70) and Ben Auckland (37), who at one stage threatened to run away with the match.

"Chris bowled extremely well and once he broke that stand all of our bowlers kept it tight to the end," Manders added.

A refreshed Bermuda will now take on Papua New Guinea in next Monday's Plate match having breathed new life in their World Cup campaign despite failing to advance past the group phase.

Bermuda Under-19s v Ireland Under-19s 2007/08 season

Played at Royal Selangor Club, Kuala Lumpur (neutral venue), on 21 February 2008 (50-over match)

Result Bermuda Under-19s won by 20 runs

Bermuda Under-19s innings (50 overs maximum) R B 4s 6s SR

CRM Douglas c Dougherty b Keaveney 27 39 1 1 69.23

TS Fray c Poynter b Britton 0 3 0 0 0.00

RCAE Smith c Poynter b Keaveney 7 22 0 0 31.81

RJ Trott run out (Thompson) 64 94 7 0 68.08

GH Maybury lbw b Ackland 0 5 0 0 0.00

MO Jones b Thompson 58 78 7 1 74.35

JA DeSilva st Poynter b Hall 26 32 2 0 81.25

DAW Hollis c & b Hall 2 4 0 0 50.00

MME Campbell st Poynter b Hall 2 7 0 0 28.57

TE Tucker not out 10 13 1 0 76.92

TLC Govia not out 3 3 0 0 100.00

Extras (b 2, lb 3, w 17) 22

Total (9 wickets; 50 overs; 191 mins) 221 (4.42 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-1 (Fray, 0.5 ov), 2-15 (Smith, 5.6 ov), 3-51 (Douglas, 11.6 ov), 4-65 (Maybury, 14.5 ov), 5-171 (Jones, 38.1 ov), 6-180 (Trott, 42.4 ov), 7-184 (Hollis, 43.4 ov), 8-190 (Campbell, 45.2 ov), 9-216 (DeSilva, 49.2 ov)

Bowling O M R W Econ

SA Britton 9 0 45 1 5.00 (2w)

RJ Keaveney 9 0 50 2 5.55 (7w)

BJ Ackland 10 1 38 1 3.80 (1w)

GJ Thompson 10 3 27 1 2.70

JD Hall 10 0 44 3 4.40 (1w)

A Balbirnie 2 0 12 0 6.00 (1w)

Ireland Under-19s innings (target: 222 runs from 50 overs) R B 4s 6s SR

C Dougherty c Maybury b Douglas 70 108 6 0 64.81

PR Stirling lbw b Jones 5 6 1 0 83.33

BJ Ackland lbw b Douglas 37 79 5 0 46.83

JD Hall b Douglas 25 40 1 0 62.50

JNK Shannon b Douglas 12 11 2 0 109.09

GJ Thompson c Govia b Trott 5 11 0 0 45.45

A Balbirnie run out (Maybury) 18 16 1 0 112.50

LT Nelson st Smith b Douglas 2 6 0 0 33.33

SW Poynter b Trott 5 8 1 0 62.50

RJ Keaveney not out 7 5 0 0 140.00

SA Britton run out 1 2 0 0 50.00

Extras (b 3, lb 4, w 7) 14

Total (all out; 48.4 overs; 184 mins) 201 (4.13 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-7 (Stirling, 2.2 ov), 2-98 (Ackland, 26.4 ov), 3-133 (Dougherty, 36.4 ov), 4-161 (Shannon, 40.3 ov), 5-162 (Hall, 40.5 ov), 6-172 (Thompson, 43.3 ov), 7-177 (Nelson, 44.6 ov), 8-194 (Balbirnie, 47.2 ov), 9-197 (Poynter, 47.6 ov), 10-201 (Britton, 48.4 ov)

Bowling O M R W Econ

MO Jones 7.4 1 35 1 4.56 (5w)

JA DeSilva 7 1 17 0 2.42

GH Maybury 2 0 10 0 5.00

TE Tucker 10 0 46 0 4.60 (1w)

RJ Trott 9 0 37 2 4.11

CRM Douglas 10 0 40 5 4.00

TLC Govia 3 0 9 0 3.00

Toss Ireland Under-19s, who chose to field first

Points Bermuda Under-19s 2, Ireland Under-19s 0

Youth ODI debuts TLC Govia (Bermuda Under-19s); LT Nelson (Ireland Under-19s)