West Indies & Sri Lanka top their respective pools with hard earned victories in Round 1 of the OVER-50s World Cup

Feb 11, 2025 Sports

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– Round 1 Summary

West Indian Anthony Sahadeo records his maiden century

POOL A

SRI LANKA vs USA  

Kaieteur Sports- The eagerly awaited clash between these two sides turned out to be a comfortable 6-wicket win for the star-studded Sri Lanka side. USA set an excellent base with the bat and were cruising at 156/3 with 10 overs to go but could only manage 53/5 in the death overs and their score of 209/8 looked sub-par. Three ex-pat Sri Lankans – Sajith Fernando (69 not out), Sanjeewa Weerasinghe (46) and Naveed Peiris (36) – scored 70 percent of the USA’s runs.

Saman Jayantha, who played 17 ODIs for Sri Lanka, looks like he could be a star of this tournament. After taking 1/23 from 9 overs, he then stroked an effortless 58 (41 balls) on debut to get Sri Lanka off to a flying start. Ruvin Peiris (93 not out from 75 balls) was equally impressive, and the hosts swept aside the impressive USA spin attack to win with 14 overs to spare.

NEW ZEALAND vs UAE

The second Pool A match was just as one-sided. The UAE came out of the gates hard against New Zealand and were 107/2 after 20 overs. However, their lack of batting depth was quickly exposed once the top order was out, and they crumbled to 152 all out, losing 8 for 45. The wickets were shared around, but the two left-arm spinners, Vishal Dube and Darren Sears, took 4/32 between them. The toothless UAE bowling attack – missing their best player in Khurram Khan – was never going to trouble the Grey Caps, who cruised home in the 28th over with 7 wickets to spare. All five Kiwi batsmen reached double figures, with Robbie Frew’s 45 the top score.

ENGLAND vs ZIMBABWE

The final Pool A game was between England and Zimbabwe. Missing most of their big guns from the last tournament, Zimbabwe found a new one in the form of Jason Oates, who scored a brilliant 107 (9 fours and 5 sixes). I can’t confirm this stat right now, but I believe Oates could be the only player to score a century on first-class debut and a century on Over-50s International debut. With some support from the late middle order, Zimbabwe reached a thoroughly commendable 220/6 against the World Champions. Marcus Sharp took 3/39.

Surviving the England bowling is one thing, but getting through their formidable batting lineup is another. All of the top four made 39 or over, with the gluttonous Giles Ecclestone top-scoring with 72 from 58 balls (following his century in a warm-up match two days earlier) as England eased home in the 37th over.

POOL B

PAKISTAN vs WALES

The most exciting match in Pool B – perhaps surprisingly – was between Pakistan and Wales. Pakistan started aggressively and, at 140/1 after 20 overs, any kind of score looked possible. However, the Welshmen fought gallantly to peg Pakistan back to 261/8. Mohsin Qarshi (66) and Muhammad Shahid (58) did all the blazing at the top, but none of the others passed 32. Iwan Rees took 3/39 with his off-spinners, and the dynamic Ali Bukhari bowled impressively fast to take 3/31.

 

Wales started their chase solidly. Rees scored 47 at a run a ball while Simon Holliday was more conservative. Holliday took up the hitting at Rees’ dismissal and hit some beautiful shots en route to 56. Huw Evans was also impressed by getting 45, with Bukhari doing the hitting at the other end. Bukhari had scored 125 not out in his only O50I innings prior to this tournament and he was the key for Wales. He smashed 59 from 44, with three sixes, but when he was out Wales still needed 29 from 21. They fell an agonizing 3 runs short of what would have been a famous upset, but showed that they will be no easy-beats at this World Cup. Muhammed Jawed took 4/30.

SOUTH AFRICA VS WEST INDIES

In what could certainly be termed an upset, West Indies beat the 2023 finalists South Africa by 18 runs in what I believe was the first meeting between these two sides. Anthony Sahadeo put on a one-man show with the bat for the Windies, hitting a dashing century. He carried his bat throughout the innings, ending on 101 not out. In 24 previous matches, Sahadeo had only averaged 19 so his innings today was as unlikely as it was impressive. Also impressive was South Africa’s Wiaan Smit, who took 5/21 from 9 overs on debut to slice through the West Indies middle order.

The target of 200 looked entirely gettable for the South Africans, and at 123/3 (Yahya Jiwa 55, Dave Bakker 42) they looked on track. However, the spin-heavy Windies attack (four spinners out of five bowlers used) relentlessly pegged the batsmen back and took regular wickets. Debutant Sudesh Persaud was the pick of the WI bowlers with 3 for 26 off his 8 overs, Fareed Hosein also took 3 for 37 off his 9 overs. Vejai Seonarine took 2 for 33 off his 8. South Africa was bowled out for 181.This result throws Pool B wide open, as many had expected South Africa to cruise through to the semi-finals.

AUSTRALIA vs INDIA 

Australia survived more than a few nervous moments to overcome a gritty India side by 3 wickets in a very exciting finish. India recovered from 10/3 to post 191/7 (Mandar Phadke 83, Abhjit Ganguly 59). A score of 220+ was definitely on the cards, but some pedestrian late-order batting from Dinesh Sharma (19 from 46) and tight Aussie bowling kept the score under 200. Craig Trindall was again outstanding, taking 2/22 from 8.

India’s new-look bowling attack was excellent, chipping away at the strong Australian batting lineup, and at 143/7, the men in blue were well on top. However, Glen Giddings (46*) and Simon Waddington (24*) calmly added 51 to get Australia home with an over to spare. This effort showed the depth of the Australian batting lineup. Giddings, who bats at 8, has been not out 5 times out of his 8 innings at this level and now averages nearly 70. Waddington, at 9, has scored 84 runs for just once out.

All of the matches can be watched back on The Papare’s YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@thepapareofficial

(West Indies & Sri Lanka top their respective pools with hard earned victories in Round 1 of the OVER-50s World Cup)

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• NEW ZEALAND vs UAE, PAKISTAN vs WALES, SOUTH AFRICA VS WEST INDIES, SRI LANKA vs USA

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