Big guns march on

New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe all took wins on the third day of the ICC Under 19 World Cup in Sri Lanka.

In Group A New Zealand blasted their way to 259 for 6 against Uganda with Todd Astle hitting 67 after they had slipped to 152 for 5 and were indebted to Kieran Noema-Barnett (67) and Ronald Karaitiana (43no) for late runs.

The Kiwis then bowled out Uganda for 137 as Dean Bartlett took 5-30 and captain, Hamza Almuzahim, top-scored with 27.

South Africa bowled the USA out for 115 with Craig Alexander taking 3 for 26 from eight overs while Dunae Nathaniel blasted 41 from 38 balls, but it was Richard das Neves who did the real damage with 5-29 as they took a 162-run victory.

Batting first South African captain Dean Elgar hit 79 and Craig Kieswetter 80 from just 66 balls as they reached 277 for 8 after being 100 for 4.

Sri Lanka took a 137 run victory over Namibia in Group C after they had hit 263 for 8 with Dilan Cooray 64 top-scoring.

Supersub Rajeev Weerasinghe took 4- 24 with his off-breaks as the Namibians crumbled to 126 all out in the 39th over and man-of-the-match Sachitra Serasinghe added 3-22 to his 41 runs.

Zimbabwe scrapped past Nepal by two runs, Nepal were looking odds on to take the match after reaching 150 for 2 in the 38th over chasing 202 with Kanishka Chaugai hitting 78.

Ryan Higgins struck 74 for Zimbabwe after they were 90 for 6 but Higgins then combined with Graeme Cremer to take victory.

Cremer brought Zimbabwe back into contention with two wickets in two balls and finished with 3-36 as Nepal failed to get the seven runs needed from the last over.

Group A, Nondescripts Cricket Club, Colombo, New Zealand v Uganda. Uganda won the toss and elected to field.

New Zealand 259-6 (50 overs, T.Astle 67, K.Noema-Barnett 67); Uganda 137 (48.4 overs, Bartlett 5-30. New Zealand won by 122 runs.

Group B, P.Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo, South Africa v United States of America. USA won the toss and elected to field.

South Africa 277-8 (50 overs, C.Kieswetter 80, D.Elgar 79); USA 115 (29.l overs, Das Neves 5-29). South Africa won by 162 runs.

Group C, R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka v Namibia, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.

Sri Lanka 263-8 (50 overs, D.Cooray 64); Namibia 126 (38.3 overs). Sri Lanka won by 137 runs.

Group D, Colombo Cricket Club, Colombo, Nepal v Zimbabwe, Nepal won the toss and elected to field.

Zimbabwe 201 (49.5 overs, R.Higgins 74, P.Khadra 4-28); Nepal 199-9 (50 overs, K.Chaugai 78). Zimbabwe won by two runs.

Group D
P W L Points
Zimbabwe Under-19s 2 2 - - - 4
England Under-19s 1 1 - - - 2
Nepal Under-19s 2 - 2 - - 0
Ireland Under-19s 1 - 1 - - 0