The Australian national cricket team may have lost the ongoing 5-match ODI series to England but the under-19 colts pulled up an emphatic victory against their English opponents in the Super League Quarterfinal of the ICC Under-19 World Cup on January 23. Thanks to the remarkable spell from spinner Lloyd Pope who marked the best bowling figures in the history of U19 world cups. His 8-wicket haul helped the Aussies to bounce back in the game and defend an easy total 0f 127.
The Australian dugout seemed to be highly disappointed after they could put only 127 runs on the board after batting first. Except for skipper Jason Sangha, who scored a 91-ball 58, no other player could manage to score more than 16 runs. The entire team was bundled up in 33.3 overs.
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For the English colts, 128 runs could have been an easy affair but Pope made sure that their arch-rivals struggle to get there. He bowled a total of 9.1 overs at an economy rate of 3.62 and picked up 8 scalps after conceding just 35 runs.
In one of the most remarkable comebacks of all time, Lloyd Pope took 8/35 – the best figures in all ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cups – to skittle England for 96, defending 127 in the process.
Match Report https://t.co/uhTc5vakT6#ENGvAUS #U19CWC pic.twitter.com/kcIhN0yIuu
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) January 23, 2018
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With this remarkable performance, he became the bowler with best bowling figures in U19 world cups. He surpassed his teammate Jason Ralston’s figures of 7/15 against Papua New Guinea. Let’s have a look at the top 5 bowlers with excellent figures in this ICC tournament:
| SL No | Player | Country | Figures | Opposition | Year |
| 1 | Lloyd Pope | Australia | 8/35 | England | 2017 |
| 2 | Jason Ralston | Australia | 7/15 | Papua New Guinea | 2017 |
| 3 | Jeevan Mendis | Sri Lanka | 7/19 | Zimbabwe | 2002 |
| 4 | Trent Boult | New Zealand | 7/20 | Malaysia | 2008 |
| 5 | Rahul Vishwakarma | Nepal | 6/3 | Papua New Guinea | 2012 |
Watch Llyod Pope’s magnificent spell in the quarterfinal match against England:
Lloyd Pope’s record-breaking #U19CWC spell
You can watch all of the wickets here:
https://t.co/eAshN6E5a2 pic.twitter.com/uby5UQpT2U— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) January 23, 2018
As soon as Australia turned the game around, the crowd erupted in joy. England U-19 team managed to bat till 23.4 overs and were all-out at 96. They lost the game by 31 runs.
Friends, family and fans go wild in the stands as we join the Aussies on the field to celebrate a remarkable victory in Queenstown pic.twitter.com/YgCM5jp04W
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) January 23, 2018
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Pope bagged the Man of the Match award for his outstanding performance.
This is a Player of the Match award that @lloyd_pope24 will certainly treasure after spinning Australia into the #U19CWC Super League semis! pic.twitter.com/M1moCXYFY5
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) January 23, 2018
Apart from Australia’s victory, Sri Lanka won the plate quarter-final 3 by defeating Kenya by 311 runs and West Indies defeated Ireland by 4 wickets and won the plate quarter-final 4.
