St Johnston ace Scott Macbeth top scores in U19 Cricket World Cup game

Scott Macbeth top-scored for Ireland in their defeat by India at the ICC Under-19s Men’s Cricket World Cup.

Ireland lost out to overwhelming favourites India by 174 runs in Tarouba, Trinidad.

Although on the beaten side, it was a memorable outing for St Johnston Cricket Club star Macbeth.

Ireland captain Tim Tector won the toss and decided to bowl first, but India dominated the early overs with Harnoor Singh (88) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (79) putting on a 164-run opening stand inside of 25 overs.

Rajvardhan Hangargekar weighed in with a 39-not-out appearance with the bat as India reached 307 runs for the loss of only five wickets.

The Irish top order fell swiftly with Liam Doherty (7), David Vincent (8) and Jack Dickson (0) all put out early.

Joshua Cox hit 28 runs before being caught by Dinesh Bana.

Macbeth landed an eye-catching 32 runs off just 40 balls. Macbeth’s tally included three fours and two fine sixes, the second of which was a superb pull sent over the mid-wicket fence.

Macbeth was out out in the 36th over, caught by Bana off the bowl of Aneeshwar Gautam.

Ireland were all out in the 39th over for 133 runs.

In the weekend opener, Ireland defeated Uganda by 39 runs, with Cox top scoring with 111 as Ireland posted 236-9 in 50 overs.

Macbeth clipped 22 runs against Uganda before being caught by Asaba Brian.

They face South Africa, again at Tarouba, on Friday in a winner-takes-all game. The winners go to the Super 8 phase with the defeated team heading for the Plate draw.

Macbeth played a key role for St Johnston as they won the Championship and Sperrin Springs Cup in 2021.

He also had a central role as Ireland got through the regional qualifiers, where he was the third highest Irish scorer.