A round-up of the Under-19 World Cup playoff matches on February 25, 2014
ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2014Ken McClure’s second consecutive fifty helped New Zealand Under-19s to a five-wicket win against UAE Under-19s in the Plate Semi-Final in Abu Dhabi. McClure hit seven fours and a six during his unbeaten 62 to help New Zealand chase down 141 in 30.2 overs.UAE, put in to bat, were unable to gather any momentum as their progress was halted by wickets at regular intervals. Kyle Jamieson provided the first breakthrough for New Zealand in the ninth over, with the total on 26. Jeremy Benton and Josh Finnie shared two wickets each as UAE stumbled to 85 for 7 and only a 36-run stand for the eighth wicket gave the UAE score some respectability. While most of their batsmen made starts, none could muster more than 21 as a result of which the team eventually folded for 140 in 49.2 overs.New Zealand lost Henry Collier early in the chase, but Raki Weerasundara chipped in with 30. The team lost five wickets by the 27th over, but UAE did not have enough runs to challenge the opposition. New Zealand will now play Bangladesh in the Plate Final.A quick half-century from Mosaddek Hossain paved the way for Bangladesh Under-19s’ 76-run win against Zimbabwe Under-19s in the other Plate Semi-Final. Mosaddek whipped six fours and a six during his unbeaten 66-ball 83, and forged a 64-run alliance for the fifth wicket with Yasir Ali to take the team to a competitive 265 for 6. The groundwork for Bangladesh’s innings had been laid by Joyraz Sheik (58) and Litton Das (47) who put up 77 for the second wicket to help the team towards the 150-run mark.The Bangladesh bowlers then ran through Zimbabwe’s top order to leave the team struggling at 65 for 5, but Luke Jongwe and the captain Malcolm Lake put up a brief resistance, with a 50-run partnership for the sixth wicket. However, two wickets in the 37th over from Mustafizur Rahman once again dented Zimbabwe’s hopes and despite a fighting 30 from Deven Bell at No. 9, the team were restricted to 193 for 9 from their 50 overs.West Indies Under-19s seamer Ray Jordan picked up three wickets to help the team edge Afghanistan Under-19s by nine runs in Dubai. Chasing 216, Afghanistan were inching towards a win at 204 for 7, but Jordan struck off successive deliveries in the 47th over before Gudakesh Motie’s strike in the next over dismissed Afghanistan for 206.Earlier, Fabian Allen’s 92 had helped West Indies recover after three of their top five batsmen were out for ducks. Allen hit eight fours and four sixes, and combined with Ramaal Lewis for a sixth-wicket partnership worth 52 runs, which eventually took the team to 215. Fareed Ahmad and Mohammad Mujtaba shared three scalps apiece for Afghanistan.Afghanistan were buoyed by a 51 from the opener Shahidullah, but the loss of wickets at regular intervals saw them precariously placed at 97 for 5. Hashmatullah Shaidi scored an unbeaten 52 and the captain Nasir Jamal chipped in with 30, but the team eventually fell just short.