Bulawayo: Manny Lumsden’s five-wicket haul led England to a comprehensive 65-run win over New Zealand in the ICC Men’s U19 World Cup 2026 Super Six at the Queen’s Sports Club on Friday.
The win extended England’s unbeaten run in the 16-team tournament and helped them become the first team from Group 2 to qualify for the semi-finals, with fierce rivals Pakistan and India set to battle for the remaining spot in Sunday’s blockbuster match at the same venue.
Currently, England are at the top of the Group 2 table with 8 points from 4 matches, followed by India at the second position with 6 points and Pakistan at the second position with 4 points.
Their victory further complicates Pakistan’s semi-final qualification situation as they now need to beat arch-rivals India by a considerable margin to improve their net run rate, which stands at a whopping 3.337.
Batting first in the high-stakes match, England’s batting unit posted 234/7 in their 50 overs, led by top-order batsman Ben Mayes with a half-century.
Mayes scored 53 runs off 70 balls with 5 fours to top England team. His efforts were aided by middle-order batsman Caleb Falconer and opener Ben Dawkins with 47 and 42 respectively.
For the New Zealand side, Snekeeth Reddy and Mason Clarke took 2 wickets each and Hunter Shore, Selvin Sanjay and Harry Burns took one wicket each.
Chasing a target of 235 runs on the tricky surface of Queen’s Sports Club, New Zealand’s batting line-up faltered and were bundled out for 169 runs in 38.5 overs despite Reddy’s ferocity.
Reddy scored 47 off 65 balls for the Blackcaps with two fours and a six.
Right-arm fast bowler Lumston fired England’s bowling with 5 for 17 in 6.5 overs. Sebastian Morgan took 2 wickets and Alex Green and Farhan Ahmed took one wicket each.