28 Jan 2016

Sport: Fiji crushed in U19 Cricket World Cup opener

12:45 pm on 28 January 2016

Fiji have suffered a crushing 299 run defeat against England in their first ever match at the Under 19 Cricket World Cup.

The English piled on 371 for 3 batting first, with opener Dan Lawrence smashing 174 and Jack Burnham 148 runs.

Cakacaka Tikoisuva, Jack Charters and Josaia Baleicikoibia were the only Fiji bowlers to grab a wicket.

In reply, Fiji slumped to 6 for 17 in the ninth over before eventually being all out for 72.

Peni Vuniwaqa was their top scorer with 36 - half the Fijian total.

Head coach Shane Jurgensen says the World Cup is all new for his players.

"You're fighting against teams and players that have been playing this game for a lot longer than us. Our biggest battle is making sure that we play well and then if we play well then we put ourselves in a chance to be competitive and put in a good performance.

"As long as we're very competitive and also entertaining - we've done some cool things off the field and shown the spirit of this team and the spirit of Fiji - so we try to entertain off the field and also on the field and let's see what happens."

Fiji's next match is tomorrow against Zimbabwe.

The Fiji Under 19 team at the World Cup in Bangladesh.

The Fiji Under 19 team at the World Cup in Bangladesh. Photo: Cricket Fiji