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Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
IT will be youth versus experience when Zimbabwe and South Africa Emerging sides face off in their five-match one day series opener at the Groenkloof Oval in Pretoria, South Africa today.
Zimbabwe picked an experienced squad for the series while their competitors, South Africa settled for youthful players who are yet to get a feel of the highest level. Both sides will be hoping to hit the ground running early.
Only four players from Zimbabwe’s 15-member squad are yet to play international cricket while none of South Africa’s players have had a feel of the biggest stage.
There are 141 One Day International (ODI) caps in the Zimbabwe Emerging camp while the hosts have none.
The Zimbabwe team, which is under the tutelage of senior men’s national team assistant coach, Stuart Matsikenyeri, will go in as favourites given the experience that they possess, however, the South African youngsters would be no push overs as some have played in the Under-19s World Cup, thus know what to expect.
Some of the “experienced” players in the Zimbabwean camp include Luke Jongwe, who has 40 ODI caps, Wessly Madhevere with 36 caps, Tadiwanashe Marumani with 12 caps and Victor Nyauchi who has 10 senior appearances. The players yet to get a feel of ODI cricket are Faraz Akram, Brian Bennette, Jonathan Campbell, and Tanunurwa Makoni.
For the hosts, most of their players have been doing well over the past year and have the likes of former Proteas Under-19 skipper, George van Heerden, reigning CSA Domestic Newcomer of the Year, Dafabet Warriors’ batter Jordan Hermann.
The 21-year-old scored 297 runs at an average of 49.50 during last season’s One-Day Cup campaign, including a top score of 150 against Paarl Rocks. His form also earned him a spot on the South Africa “A” tour of Sri Lanka in June.
Some of the South African players that also took part in the Under-19 World Cup are Liam Alder, Matthew Boast, Michael Copeland and Valentine Kitime.
Despite picking a youthful team compared to the Zimbabwean side, South Africa Emerging head coach Maketa said the series will be a good platform to put in action what they have been working on, adding that his side is well balanced.
“We have a well-balanced squad that has worked hard for the past three months at the High-Performance Centre in Pretoria.
They are looking forward to the series as it’s almost like a nice reward to put into practice what we have been working on for the past three months.
“The whole aim of the National Academy is to prepare these players to get ready for the next level and this series will provide the opportunity to come up against international opposition and really put their skills to the test.
“As coaches, we are looking forward to having the guys play in different situations and roles, and ultimately see how they respond to playing under pressure,” he said in a statement from Cricket South Africa (CSA).
After today’s opener, the other matches will take place on 15, 18, 21 and 23 August. All games will be played at the Groenkloof Oval.
All the matches will be streamed live via the official CSA YouTube channel. —@brandon_malvin
Online Reporter