Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo, [email protected]
ZIMBABWE men Under-19 national cricket team assistant coach, Norbert Manyange believes their five-match one-day series against South Africa Under-19 Emerging was an eye opener in their preparation for the 2026 ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
Manyange took charge of the Zimbabwe Under-19 Emerging side in the absence of head coach, Elton Chigumbura. The gaffer watched his side succumb to a 5-0 series whitewash.
He, however, believes that with game time, his side will be ready for the World Cup as there were a lot of positives to take away from the series.
“We have to play a lot of games. We have to expose the guys to World Cup standards that have been shown here and going forward that is very important.
“This series was very important and I am sure that South Africa will come again or we are going to go there, maybe three or four times, so this is just the beginning,” said Manyange.
Both South Africa and Zimbabwe used the series as part of their preparations for the 2026 global showpiece. The World Cup will be co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Namibia.
For South Africa Under-19 head coach, Malibongwe Maketa, the recently concluded series was pivotal in their preparations. He said most of the players who took part in the series will be eligible for the World Cup and by the time of the tournament they would have gained enough experience of playing at a higher level.
“It was very crucial (to come to Zimbabwe), which is why we wanted this tour. All the boys that came here are 16 and 17-year olds, which makes them eligible for the World Cup. We wanted to start early building for the World Cup and I am sure Zimbabwe is doing the same thing, which allows these boys enough time to settle at this level above school cricket. When the World Cup comes, they would have gained a lot of experience,” said Maketa.
With both camps pleased by player performances, the scoreboard, however, favoured South Africa who convincingly won all the five games.
In the opening game of the tour, the visitors registered an eight-wicket win before going on to double the lead with a 120-run victory in the second encounter.
South Africa’s domination continued into the third game, winning by 10 wickets to take an unassailable lead. They made it 4-0 following a hefty 237-run victory in the penultimate game.
In the fifth and final match played on Sunday, the visitors registered a nine-wicket win to complete a series whitewash.
However, Maketa believes the results are not a true reflection of the games as Zimbabwe gave them a tough challenge.
“We played good cricket, but the scoreboard is not a true reflection of how it was. Zimbabwe put up a fight in every game and what we did well is that we played pressure moments quite well and in terms of fielding there was a huge difference.
“I thought we actually out-fielded them. We know, Zimbabwe is one of the best fielding teams, so it’s good to see that improvement from our boys and we are happy with the performance,” said Maketa.
In the final game on Sunday, the South Africa Under-19 Emerging side won the toss and elected to field.
They bowled out Zimbabwe for just 119 runs in 32,4 overs before easily chasing it in 11 overs to finish on 120/1.
Kupakwashe Muradzi top scored for the hosts with 29 runs from 54 deliveries while Nathaniel Hlabangana made 23 runs off 16 balls and Ryan Moyo made 18 runs from 21 deliveries.
Jacob Basson and Ntando Soni took three wickets apiece for South Africa for 32 runs and 15 runs respectively. Basson bowled eight overs while Soni bowled five. Jason Rowles finished with figures of 2/5 in six overs while Buyanda Majola and Luke Kleinsmith took one scalp each.
In their chase, South Africa lost the wicket of Muhammad Bulbilia for 45 runs off 25 balls. His wicket was taken by Kirby Madaramete, who finished with figures of 1/22 in two overs.
Soni was named player of the series. — @brandon_malvin
Online Reporter