England raced to a confident eight-wicket win in their ICC Under-19 World Cup opener against Namibia.
Middlesex leg-spinner Luke Hollman took three wickets as Namibia posted 196/9 from their 50 overs before skipper Harry Brook (59*) and vice-captain Will Jacks (73*) put on 130 in a hurry to seal the victory for their side inside 25 overs.
The day started well for Namibia when skipper Lohan Louwrens correctly called tails and asked England to field first.
Along with opening partner Jurgen Linde, Louwrens started confidently and the pair almost made it through the first 10 overs, putting on 42 before Hampshire’s Tom Scriven broke the partnership, Linde clipping him to deep square-leg where Hollman held on.
England’s new-ball bowlers – Dillon Pennington and Ethan Bamber – had been unable to make a breakthrough prior to Scriven’s introduction but Pennington did play a part in England’s second, taking a catch at short fine-leg to give Surrey off-spinner Will Jacks his first wicket.
Scriven, Jacks and Hollman were limiting Namibia’s scoring opportunities and reducing the run-rate, and it was no surprise when a third wicket fell – Eben van Wyk excellently caught by Tom Banton at short cover to leave the score at 70/3.
With the pace off England were racing through their overs and while Namibia were comfortable enough, they weren’t able to accelerate as perhaps they would have liked to, especially on a flat track.
England skipper Harry Brook brought himself into the action to replace Jacks, who’d bowled through for ten very economical overs, and he didn’t have to wait long for a wicket, Erich van Mollendorf chopping on for six.
Shaun Fouche – who top-scored with 44 – posed Namibia’s greatest threat and when he picked out Brook at mid-off off the bowling of Hollman, the Middlesex man’s second wicket, the game turned further in England’s favour. Five became six when Brook took his second to leave the score at 124/6.
Namibia’s lower order then rallied to take them up to 196/9 – with time for a second wicket for Scriven, a third for Hollman and a maiden World Cup scalp for Bamber – to leave England chasing 197 for victory.
England got off to a quick start, thanks in part to some wayward Namibian bowling. They leaked seven wides across the first three overs and then Perera and Banton began to find the fence.
Banton in particular was looking threatening and after five overs England had raced to 39/0.
The pair reached their 50 partnership, broken only when Banton played on for a breezy 23. Brook hit two early fours – a beautiful back-foot punch and an equally pleasing inside-out drive over cover – and that set the tone for his innings.
Perera looked in good touch but after one fine pull for four he was caught at square-leg attempting to replicate it which brought Jacks and Brook together – the same duo who both scored centuries in England’s warm-up win over Ireland.
The pair ticked over nicely, punishing the bad balls and rotating the strike to keep the run-rate in England’s favour without having to take undue risks.
In the 19th over Jacks hit three beautiful fours in a row – a drive, a cut and a pull – to take England within 63 runs of victory and then the pair really put their foot down, adding 15 runs from the 21st and 22 from the 22nd.
Jacks ended not out on an entertaining 73 from just 44 balls while skipper Brook was no less enterprising for his unbeaten 59. It represents a strong start for Brook’s side, who take on Bangladesh at the same venue on Thursday.