Under-19s start with loss in India

ZIMBABWE Cricket’s men Under-19 team got their World Cup preparatory tour of India off to a poor start as they suffered a five wickets defeat at the hands of Club Cricket of India in Mumbai, on Monday.

Zimbabwe travelled to India at the end of last week where they had been practicing before playing their first game on Monday.

In their opening encounter, Zimbabwe Under-19s captain, Mathew Schonken won the toss and elected to bat first and his side went on to finish their 45 overs on a competitive score of 269/5 before the hosts chased it down in 43,3 overs, finishing on 272/5.

It was opening batter, Panashe Taruvinga who put up a brilliant performance for Zimbabwe’s Under-19 team. The youngster fell just 10 runs short of what would have been a brilliant ton, scoring 90 runs off 107 deliveries.

He was the only other Zimbabwean player that managed to score a half century with two others falling close to their milestones. Ronak Patel fell three runs short of his half century on 47 runs from 66 deliveries while Kohl Eksteen was caught and bowled out on 46 runs from just 25 balls.

Their third leading run scorer was Campbell MacMillan with 31 runs after facing 23 balls while the skipper, Schonken chipped in with 15 runs off 12 deliveries. Arthava Sankhe finished with figures of 3/53 in nine overs for Club Cricket of India while Arthava

Bhagat also claimed three scalps, conceding 57 runs in nine wickets as well.

Schonken was the leading wicket taker for Zimbabwe Under-19s in the match’s second innings, finishing with figures of 2/44 in his eight over spell while Newman Nyamhuri and Shaun Dzakatira took one scalp apiece for 45 and 55 runs in nine and eight overs respectively.

Aarya Satpute top scored for the hosts with 76 runs off 75 balls while Riday Khandke an Raj Waghela remained undefeated on 49 and 32 runs respectively to help their team cross the line in the first match of the series.

This is their second tour in a space of two weeks having been in South Africa before travelling to India.

The Zimbabwe Under-19 team is in India for a two-week training camp ahead of next year’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa.

Prior to Monday’s encounter, the country’s next generation of cricketers had been practicing under the gaze of head coach, Prosper Utseya.
Zimbabwe are in Group C alongside Australia, Namibia and Sri Lanka.

Utseya’s starlets will open their campaign on 21 January against Sri Lanka at the Kimberley Oval in the Northern Cape city of Kimberley.

Zimbabwe will then take on Australia on 25 January before facing Namibia in the last group fixture on 27 January at the same venue.

Defending champions India are placed in Group A with Bangladesh, Ireland and the United States of America as they attempt to claim a record sixth Under-19 title.

Group B consists of South Africa, England, West Indies and Scotland, while Group D is made up of Afghanistan, Pakistan, New Zealand and Nepal.

The top three sides from each group progress to the Super Six phase of the event ahead of the semi-finals and final in Benoni. – @brandon_malvin