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GEORGETOWN, Guyana – An unbeaten century by Player of the Match Joshua Cox and a four-wicket haul from Matthew Humphreys headlined Ireland Under-19s Men’s victory over Uganda by 39 runs in their first ICC Under-19s Men’s Cricket World Cup match today.
The South African-born Cox, 18, looked sparkling in his square of the wicket shots today (see video). He brought up his half-century off 61 balls, then blasted a pull shot to the boundary for his century off 111 balls – which was also the third-last ball of the innings.

Cox, who holds an Irish passport as a dual citizen and has Irish great-grandparents on both sides of his family, hit scores of 44* against Sri Lanka and 28* against Scotland in the two official tournament warm-up matches, with today continuing his run of ‘red-inkers’ in the last three matches for the Irish Under-19s. His innings today featured 8 fours and a six – he is only the fourth Ireland Under-19s batter to have scored a century at an Under-19s World Cup after Eoin Morgan, Paul Stirling and Harry Tector.

The Irish side batted solidly for their 236-9 from 50 overs, albeit with two key partnerships that drove the scoring forward – a 99-run 5th wicket stand between Cox and Philippe le Roux (32) and a 47-run sixth-wicket stand between Cox and Scott Macbeth (22).

With 237 the target, the Irish bowlers struck early and always kept the Ugandan run chase in check. The left-arm spinner Matthew Humphreys, who plays club cricket for Lisburn, impressed taking 4-25 from 10 overs, while Rush’s spinning all-rounder Nathan McGuire finished with an economical 2-29 from his 10 overs

Ugandan captain Pascal Murungi hit a well-compiled 63, but his side was eventually bowled out for 197 in the 49th over.

Ireland Under-19s will next face India and South Africa in their remaining Group Stage matches, with both fixtures to be shown live on Sky Sports in Ireland / UK.

After the match, Josh Cox said about the century:

“It’s an amazing feeling, first game of the World Cup, it’s a dream come true. I always felt I had enough time to do it, and I just trusted the batters up the other end they could help me get there.”

About the bowling performance:

“Our spinners are our strength, and I thought they bowled well today – if they keep putting in performances like that then we’ll get the results.”

About facing South Africa next week:

“I’m extremely excited, I know a lot of the guys – I’ve known them a long time and played against them. I can’t wait to play them, it should be a really fantastic occasion.”

MATCH SUMMARY

Ireland Under-19s Men v Uganda Under-19s Men, U19 World Cup Group Stage, Guyana, 15 January 2022

Ireland 236-9 (50 overs: J Cox 111*, P le Roux 32; J Baguma 2-34)
Uganda 197 (48.1 overs: P Murunga 63; M Humphreys 4-25, N McGuire 2-29)

Ireland Under-19s won by 39 runs

See full scorecard

Craig Easdown
Josh Cox celebrates his big milestone
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