WC campaign: Under-19 cricket team skipper confident

ZIMBABWE Under-19 national cricket team skipper, Matthew Schonken is confident that his charges will perform at the 2024 International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Under-19 World Cup which gets underway next week in South Africa.

The 18-year-old Schonken, who was entrusted with leading the Young Chevrons at the global showpiece, believes they have what it takes to proceed to the next stage of the World Cup. He said they are ready for the World Cup as they have put in a lot of preparations.

He said his team has jelled in really well and that should play to their advantage in their quest of having a memorable campaign.

“I think we are pretty good to be honest, the boys have come together really nicely now and we are starting to work really well as a team so I think there’s definitely a chance that we get through to the next round,” said Schonken.

The young all-rounder brings into the team a wealth of experience having been part of the Zimbabwe Under-19 team that played in the previous World Cup in 2022 in the West Indies alongside batter, Panashe Taruvinga.

Since arriving in South Africa on January 3, Zimbabwe Under-19s have played a number of warm up matches against a NorthWest University side and two unofficial games against Ireland Under-19s. Against the Irish, Zimbabwe lost one and won one and Schonken believes the hard work they have been putting in is paying off. They also had a couple of tours to India and one to South Africa last year.

“Over the past year we have been on three tours, two to India and one to South Africa in which we have prepared quite thoroughly for the World Cup.

The boys have been working really hard and I think the hard work is starting to pay off.

“In every match – against the university sides and Ireland – we have shown some real improvement so I think the boys are getting ready. Having these warm up games is good, it’s really going to help us going into the World Cup, and give us good confidence and get the boys nice and positive for the World Cup,” he said.

Zimbabwe will play against Bangladesh in another unofficial warm up match before they head into the official ICC warm up matches. In the official games, Zimbabwe will play two matches, one against Ireland on Sunday and the other against the United States of America (USA) on Tuesday.

The Prosper Utseya-coached Zimbabwe Under-19 team were placed in Group C of the World Cup and their opponents are Australia, Sri Lanka and Namibia.

Utseya’s starlets will open their campaign on January 21 against Sri Lanka at the Kimberley Oval in the Northern Cape city of Kimberley before going on to face Australia on January 25 and Namibia in their last group fixture on January 27 at the same venue.

Five-time winners of the coveted silverware and 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.