ENGLAND has claimed the last spot available in the semi finals of the Under 19 World Cup after defeating New Zealand yesterday.

New Zealand was bowled out for 89 on the final ball of its innings, before England then reached the target in the 12th over.

Despite the low final total New Zealand made, the Kiwis actually had a solid start to its innings. They put 49 runs on the board in eight and a half overs before losing their first wicket.

But, after the wickets really started falling, that is when the wheels also started falling off. They went from 3/61 in the first half of the 12th over to all out for 89 about eight and a half overs later.

Tilly Corteen-Coleman was the chief destroyer with the ball for the English. She took 4/8 from her four overs, including picking up two of those wickets within the penultimate over of the innings.

Prisha Thanawala also picked up a pair of wickets in one over earlier in the innings on her way to finishing with three wickets to her name, while Trudy Johnson took two wickets.

Meanwhile for New Zealand unsurprisingly most of the runs came from the openers, with Emma McLeod and Kate Irwin also the only players to make a double figure score with the bat.

In reply, England did lose wickets pretty consistently, but with such a low total to chase it was always going to be a challenge for New Zealand to defend it. One thing that did not help the Kiwis was that they conceded 12 extras, which just make a tough task even harder.

In an interesting coincidence, England’s openers Davina Perrin and Jemima Spence were also their side’s top scorers, much like their Kiwi counterparts had been earlier in the day.

Meanwhile for New Zealand Rishika Jaswal was the only bowler to pick up more than one wicket.