West Indies ease past Tanzania in U19 World Cup campaign opener

WINDHOEK: A collective bowling effort, followed by Tanez Francis's half-century, led West Indies to a resounding five-wicket victory over Tanzania in the first Group D match of the ICC Men's U19 World Cup 2026 here at the High Performance Oval on Thursday.

Put into bat first, Tanzania's batting unit was skittled for a meagre 122 in 34 overs despite a promising start.

Openers Dylan Thakrar and Darpan Jobanputra laid a decent platform by putting together 53 runs, but both perished in successive overs, which triggered a match-defining collapse as Tanzania lost their remaining eight wickets for just 69 runs.

Tharkar remained the top-scorer with a 38-ball 26, while Jobanputra made 19 off 46 deliveries.

Vitel Lawes was the pick of the bowlers for the West Indies as he took three wickets for 23 runs in his six overs, followed by Shaquan Belle and Micah McKenzie with two each, while Jonathan van Lange and R'Jai Gittens chipped in with one scalp apiece.

Set to chase a modest 123-run target, West Indies romped to the victory with 174 balls to spare but lost five wickets in the process.

Leading the way for them was opener Tanez Francis, who top-scored with a 55-ball 52, studded with five fours and a six. He also shared an anchoring 80-run partnership for the second wicket with Jewel Andrew, who contributed with a run-a-ball 44.

For Tanzania, Augustino Mwamele and Raymond Francis bagged two wickets each, while Laksh Bakrania could take one.

Meanwhile, the first Group C match between co-host Zimbabwe and Scotland was abandoned without a ball bowled due to persistent rain in Harare, resulting in both teams sharing a point apiece.