Cricket: Broom sweeps out Namibia

Neil Broom has waited some time for his first bat for New Zealand in the under-19 World Cup tournament, but he took his chance when it came.

The free-stroking Canterbury batsman found himself at No 3 for New Zealand's final group B match against Namibia in Christchurch yesterday, and he was soon into the action.

When he departed for 85, New Zealand were only 17 shy of their target of 202, a tally easily achieved with the home side only four down and having more than 13 of their 50 overs to be bowled.

New Zealand's emphatic win against a team who had upset Sri Lanka the previous day ensured they topped their pool, regardless of the Sri Lanka-Zimbabwe match today.

For the first time in three games, New Zealand found themselves chasing a useful score, but Broom's cultured contribution and a punishing 58 not out by captain Ross Taylor, from Central Districts, brought them home with plenty to spare.

But, coach Mark Greatbatch will have stern words to say about the running between the wickets and some wayward bowling.

Xavier and Beau may not be your classic cricketing names, but they were being toasted by the Australian camp yesterday.

Australia are set to qualify for the next round of the competition at the top of group D after beating the West Indies by 42 runs at Carisbrook.

The heroes of the day were Beau Casson and Xavier Doherty, both lower-order batsmen and accurate spin bowlers. They added a valuable 42 for the eighth wicket as Australia were dismissed for 200 after being asked to bat first.

Then, with the West Indies looking relatively comfortable in their chase, Casson and Doherty claimed three wickets to rip the heart out of the reply.

In other matches yesterday, Papua New Guinea (222-6) lost to England (223-4) by six wickets and India (227-8) beat South Africa (156) by 71 runs.

On Tuesday, minnows Nepal and Namibia turned the cup on its head, recording stunning upset wins over Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Nepal, who lost narrowly to England by 37 runs on Monday, proved that that near-upset was no fluke as they embarrassed Pakistan, one of the tournament's top seeds, by 30 runs in Christchurch.

Batting sensibly to reach 151 in 48.5 overs, the Nepalese then bowled and fielded superbly to restrict Pakistan to 121 all out in the 46th over.

On the neighbouring Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Namibia turned the tables on Sri Lanka, reaching their target of 142 in the 45th over with four wickets to spare.

In Auckland, Bangladesh and Canada tied their match with 213 runs apiece in an entertaining clash at Colin Maiden Park.

Scotland bounced back from their mauling by the West Indies on Monday to take the battle of the group D wooden-spooners in Dunedin, beating Kenya by five wickets in a rain-affected clash at Carisbrook.

- NZPA