Cape Town-born Tanguy Durrant played a key role in helping France beat Isle of Man in their Under-19 World Cup European Qualifier in Albertslund in Denmark on Tuesday.
France won the toss and elected to bat.
Their innings of 269/9 was built around a top-score of 70 by Durrant who let his D&P bat do the talking, spending just 48 balls at the crease, scoring his runs at a strike rate of 145.83.
Durrant, now 17, lives in Putney in South West London and qualifies to play for France through his French mother.
His innings included nine fours and two well-struck sixes.
Sajad Stanikzay added 61 runs (82 balls), while opener Hussnain Afzal chipped in with 40 runs (55 balls).
Ahead of Isle of Man’s innings, Durrant was confident he and his team-mates would defend their total.
“It’s a good pitch for batting and we’ll have to bowl well to come out on top,” Durrant said.
“We have confidence in our bowling attack and as long as we field to our high standards, we are perhaps slight favourites,” Durrant added.
Durrant’s words proved true as France skittled their opponents for just 83 runs in 29.1 overs, winning the match by 186 runs.
Asked if he’d one day like to play for South Africa, Durrant responded: “I’m proud to represent France, but would love to also represent South Africa. Perhaps as an adult I will be selected to be a Protea.”
He went on to say that having met AB de Villiers and followed his career closely, ‘he’s always played with the number 17’.
He’s particularly pleased that he’ll have an ESPNcricinfo profile, trumping most of his club friends!
France and the Isle of Man, along with hosts Denmark, are three of the eight countries competing at this year’s Under-19 World Cup European Qualifiers. The others are Netherlands, Norway, Italy, Sweden and Belgium.
The qualifiers kicked off on Wednesday, 24 July and will conclude on Tuesday, 30 July.
HISTORY OF UNDER-19 WORLD CUP
The ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup is an international cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council contested by national under-19 teams and was first contested in 1988, now contested every two years. The second edition was not staged again until 1998. Since then, the World Cup has been held as a biennial event, organised by the ICC. The first edition of the tournament had only eight participants, but every subsequent edition has included 16 teams. South Africa has won the tournament once.
ABOUT THE EUROPEAN U19 WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
In July this year three new countries will be given the opportunity to host an ICC event for the first time, with Italy, Germany and Denmark joining seasoned hosts Scotland and Guernsey in a packed summer of ICC pathway cricket in Europe in 2024. A record 30 countries will compete in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Sub-Regional Qualifiers, with three tournaments happening between June and August in Italy, Germany and Guernsey.
DENMARK HOST U19 MEN’S CRICKET WORLD CUP EUROPE DIVISION 2 QUALIFIER
In July, Denmark will also debut as hosts of an ICC pathway event with the U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Europe Division 2 Qualifier. With games being played in the 50-over format and eight teams competing, the event will have four grounds in operation across Copenhagen to accommodate the action-packed schedule. A minimum of two teams will progress from this event to the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Europe Qualifier taking place in the summer of 2025. The ultimate goal is to participate in the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026.
