England Men U19s have booked their place in the Super 6 stage of the 2026 ICC Men’s U19s World Cup with an eight-wicket win over tournament co-hosts Zimbabwe in Harare.
Captain Thomas Rew (86no) and Ben Mayes (77no) shared an unbroken 167-run partnership to steer the Young Lions home with 22 overs to spare.
Manny Lumsden was the pick of the England bowlers claiming three for 38, while spinners Farhan Ahmed and Ralphie Albert took two apiece, as Zimbabwe posted 208 for nine.
England lost a couple of early wickets in their chase before Rew and Mayes took over.
Somerset wicketkeeper-batter Rew, who was named Player of the Match, struck seven fours and four sixes in his unbeaten 86 from 66 balls while Hampshire batter Mayes also cleared the ropes four times in his 77 not out from 72 balls.
Victory made it two wins from as many games for the Young Lions after they won their opener against Pakistan by 37 runs on Friday. They play Scotland in their final Group C match on Wednesday.
“Very happy to get off to a good start and hopefully take this momentum into (the) Scotland (game) and then the Super 6s,” Rew said at the post-match presentation.
“The wicket was better than the other day. A lot of credit has to go to Maysey. The way he started was incredible and once we got batting together it was a case of keep chatting, keep targeting down wind and luckily we were there at the end.
“We both just said if we play our normal game we’ll get there. We didn’t really look at the scoreboard we were just happy to bat. We’re both aggressive naturally and we took our chances and it paid off.
“Targeting the spinners down wind was a big thing for us – even a half-hit was probably a six.
“Every time we bat, whoever it is, we want to see us over the line and be responsible. That is a big thing in our dressing-room and how we can target those chases and be there at the end. It was really good we were both there at the end together.”