Darwen's Alex on song as Lions hit quarters (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Darwen's Alex on song as Lions hit quarters

10:07am Friday 17th August 2012 in Sport By Matt Donlan, Sports reporter

DARWEN star Alex Davies made 45 as England booked their place in the quarter-finals of the ICC Under-19 World Cup with a resounding 126-run victory over Nepal.

After Adam Ball had won the toss, the posted a formidable total of 274-7, thanks chiefly to Ben Foakes’ 84-ball 92 from number three and a rapid 55 from Ben Duckett.

But opener Davies, the only non-county contracted played in the England squad, was in form from the off and stroked seven fours in his 68-ball innings.

New-ball pair Reece Topley and Shozair Ali then ripped through Nepal’s top order and finished with respective figures of 3-10 and 4-37 as Prithu Baskota’s men were dismissed for 148 in 46 overs.

England will now face South Africa on Sunday at the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville.

If they win they will play Australia or Bangladesh in Wednesday’s semi-final – and they will play the losers of that game in the Plate Competition on Tuesday if they are beaten by South Africa.

Davies, left, has had messages of support from his Darwen team-mates and from across the Northern League.

But the Towers will forget their star tomorrow when they welcome Leyland to Birch Hall keen to follow up last weekend’s win over then leaders Fleetwood at Broadwater.

That success saw Fleetwood knocked off the summit, although they gained revenge 24 hours later by beating Darwen in the semi-final of the Readers Cup.

Chorley have been having a torrid time and last week’s loss to Carnforth saw them slip to third from bottom. They face a tough test of a trip to high-flying Netherfield tomorrow.

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