Young Chevrons fall in World Cup opener

ZIMBABWE Under-19s got off their 2024 International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup to a poor start after they suffered a 39 runs (D/L Method) loss against Sri Lanka in the opening match in Kimberly South Africa yesterday.

There was a long break due to rain and bad weather in the second innings of the game when Zimbabwe were chasing their initial target of 205 runs.

However, bad weather (lightning) brought play to halt with Zimbabwe on 30/3 in 13,2 overs and when it resumed, they were now chasing a revised target of 129 runs in 22 overs.

The Young Chevrons who are in Group C won the toss and elected to field first and bowled out their opponents for 204 runs in 48,3 overs before going on to crumble to 89 runs all out in 21,1 overs.

Zimbabwe had an electric start to the match and managed to restrict Sri Lanka to 204 runs in 48,3 overs. Zimbabwe won the toss and Panashe Taruvinga elected to field first.

It was fast bowler Kohl Eksteen who starred with the ball for Zimbabwe, finishing with impressive figures of 3/40 in his 10 over spell while the skipper Matthew Schonken also had an impressive spell, claiming two scalps for 36 runs in six overs. Newman Nyamhuri also took two wickets, conceding 50 runs in 9,3 overs. The other wicket takers were Ryan Simbi (1/40 in 10 overs), Anesu Kamuriwo (1/12 in seven overs) and Taruvinga (1/9 in four overs).

Dinura Kalupahana top scored for Sri Lanka with 60 runs off 55 balls while wicket-keeper Sharujan Shanmuganathan remained undefeated on 41 runs off 40 balls.

Before the rain disruption, Zimbabwe had lost their top order with 30 runs on the board and after the break, the revised target seemed too much for the Young Chevrons to chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

The trio, that fell was of Nathaniel Hlabangana, Ryan Kamwemba and Panashe Taruvinga who had scored 10 runs (42 balls), five runs (15 balls) and eight runs (21 balls) respectively. The youngsters’ strike rate was, however, a cause for concern. After play resumed, the Young Chevrons went on to fall 39 runs short of the target. The skipper, Schonken top scored with a gallant 27 runs off 19 balls while Campbell Macmillan and Ronak Patel made 12 runs apiece.

After yesterday’s loss, there will be pressure for the Young Chevrons going forward. They will be in a tricky second encounter against Australia on

Thursday before going on to conclude their group matches against neighbours Namibia on Saturday. All matches will be taking place in Kimberly.

Five-time winners of the coveted silverware and defending champions India are 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 finals in Benoni. The matches started on Friday. – @brandon_malvin.