Brathwaite takes West Indies to 212

West Indies U-19 212 for 8 (Brathwaite 85, Dowrich 55, Bhatti 2-37, Hasan 2-41) against Pakistan U-19

Kraigg Brathwaite continued his excellent run with the bat, but Pakistan's bowlers gave their team the edge by restricting West Indies to 212 for 8 in the first semi-final in Lincoln.

It was a disciplined performance from Pakistan, who made good use of the favourable conditions on offer with Sarmad Bhatti's double-strike in the first four overs forcing West Indies to be cautious.

During the recovery period that followed, Brathwaite made most of the runs while captain Andre Creary was more focussed on stabilising the innings by ensuring there were no further wickets. Brathwaite, the second-highest run-getter in the competition coming into this game, launched his knock with two boundaries through extra cover off Fayyaz Butt and followed it up with three more in the bowler's next over to ease the pressure created by the early setbacks. The pair slowed down once Hammad Azam and legspinner Usman Qadir were introduced into the attack but their 101-run stand gave their team the opportunity set a challenging score.

However, Pakistan hit back. Creary, desperate to push on, holed out to Raza Hasan, who was his team's stand-out performer in the field, also running out Brathwaite for 85. At 175 for 6 in the 45th over, there was a danger of West Indies being bowled out for under 200, but wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich scored a quickfire 55, striking three fours and a six, to help his team to 212. Hasan accounted for him, and followed up with the wicket of Jason Holder next ball to finish with 2 for 41 and leave his team with a sound chance of reaching the final.

source :- crickinfo.com