Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
YOUNG Chevrons finished at the bottom of the standings of Group 2 in the Super Six stage of the 2024 International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup after they suffered a massive 146 runs defeat at the hands of England in Potchefstroom, South Africa yesterday.
Following yesterday’s defeat, Zimbabwe Under-19s campaign has come to an end and they finished the Super Six stage with zero points after losing all their matches. In their last encounter yesterday, the Prosper Utseya-coached Young Chevrons won the toss and elected to field first and went on to restrict England to 237/7 in 50 overs before they succumbed to just 91 runs all out in 24,5 overs to bring their disappointing tournament to an end.
Zimbabwe made three changes to the team that played against South Africa last Wednesday. Panashe Gwatiringa, Munashe Chimusoro and Kohl Eksteen came into the team while Nathaniel Hlabangana, Brendon Sunguro and Mashford Shungu missed out.
Newman Nyamhuri was the pick of the bowlers for Zimbabwe Under-19s, finishing with figures of 2/50 in his 10 over spell while Eksteen, Anesu Kamuriwo and the skipper Matthew Schonken picked one wicket apiece.
After an impressive start with the ball for Zimbabwe Under-19s which left England on 116/5 at the halfway mark, it was their number six batter Charlie Allison who played the crucial innings, top scoring with 76 runs off 109 balls while opening batter Theo Wylie fell for 61 runs from 70 deliveries. Haydon Mustard chipped in with 41 runs off 47 deliveries for England Under-19s.
It was yet another disappointing performance from Zimbabwe’s top order with Chimusoro and Ronak Patel falling in quick succession to leave the Young Chevrons on 12/2 in 4,5 overs. The batting collapse would continue throughout their innings and only two Zimbabwean batters managed to cross double figures. Panashe Taruvinga top scored for the Young Chevrons with 38 runs off 61 balls while Campbell Macmillan made 10 runs from 14 deliveries. Four Zimbabwean batsmen fell for ducks.
Tazeem Chaudry Ali had a spell for the ages for England, finishing with match winning figures of 7/29 in 7,5 overs while Charlie Bernard claimed two scalps for 14 runs in seven overs. However, both England and Zimbabwe are out of the World Cup and the Young Chevrons are scheduled to leave South Africa today. – @brandon_malvin
Bongani Ndlovu