ICC Under 19 World Cup: England v Sri Lanka among the quarter-finals
Watch each of the last-eight ties live on Sky Sports
Friday 5 February 2016 13:26, UK
Eight teams are still in contention to win the 2016 Under 19 World Cup - and England are one of them.
Brad Taylor's men charged into the quarter-finals with three wins out of three in the group stage - a 299-run thumping of Fiji, a 61-run victory over West Indies, and a 129-run triumph against Zimbabwe.
Sri Lanka are next up for England on Sunday, with the three other last-eight ties seeing hosts Bangladesh battle surprise package Nepal; three-time champions India tackle Namibia; and Pakistan play West Indies.
Each of the games will be broadcast live on Sky Sports and you'd be mad to miss any of them…
England v Sri Lanka, 2.30am, Sunday, Sky Sports 5
Plenty of players have contributed for England so far in their pursuit of a first World Cup trophy since 1998, with Jack Burnham (298 runs) and Dan Lawrence (288 runs) top of the run-scoring charts and Saqib Mahmood (11) having taken the most wickets. Durham's Burnham - picked by Sir Ian Botham as one to watch for 2016 - has clubbed two hundreds, with Lawrence biffing 174 as well as two valuable fifties. Bowler Mahmood, meanwhile, has snared consecutive four-fors after taking 3-2 against Fiji, and is backed up in the bowling department by Surrey's Sam Curran.
Sri Lanka suffered defeat in their final pool match to Pakistan but wins over Canada and Afghanistan - accrued courtesy of 70-odds for captain Charith Asalanka - booked their place in the quarter-finals. All the talk about Sri Lanka, though, is focussing on ambidextrous spinner Kamindu Mendis, who has the ability to bowl left and right-arm twirl. The 17-year-old is a danger with the blade, too, capable of unfurling a gorgeous textbook cover drive and an unorthodox reverse paddle with equal ease.
Bangladesh v Nepal, 2.30am, Friday, Sky Sports 2
Nazmul Hossain Shanto is averaging just the 200 in the World Cup, after hitting 73 against South Africa, an unbeaten 113 against Scotland and 14 not out against Namibia - the latter score might not look much but The Tigers were only chasing 66 to win! Nepal will be no pushovers, though, as New Zealand found out in the pool phase. Keep an eye on 15-year-old Sandeep Lamichhane, too, the Nepalese spinner took a hat-trick against Ireland.
India v Namibia, 2.30am, Saturday, Sky Sports 4
India, World Cup winners in 2000, 2008 and 2012, coasted into the business end of the tournament with Sarfaraz Khan - who took the IPL by storm last year - and Rishabh Pant crunching two fifties apiece - Pant's half-century against Nepal was the swiftest seen at Under-19 level, coming from just 18 balls. Namibia, in the quarters for the first time, have their work cut out, though a narrow win over South Africa and a talented top order will give them hope of an upset.
Pakistan v West Indies, 2.30am, Monday, Sky Sports 4
Eyes will be on the non-striker's end in this match with West Indies having secured their last-eight berth at the expense of Zimbabwe with a controversial Mankading. The fallout from that has taken away somewhat form the fact the Windies possess real talent, including batsman Shamar Springer, who has biffed a ton and a fifty so far. Pakistan will be favourites, however, having come through their group with a 100 per cent record and won the event twice before, in 2004 and 2006.
