ZIM EYE GOOD WORLD CUP RUN

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

AFTER almost two years of preparation, Zimbabwe Under-19 Cricket coach Prosper Utseya has high hopes for his team at this year’s ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup which starts today in South Africa.

The Minor Chevrons get their campaign underway on Sunday against Sri Lanka in Group C, which also has Namibia and former world youth cricket champions Australia.

Utseya, who was in charge of the Zimbabwe team when they finished 12th at the previous edition in the West Indies, is keen to see his charges making progress this time around.

“We are looking to finish higher this time. However, I want the boys to focus on one step at a time,” Utseya told the Zimpapers Sports from the team’s base in South Africa.

This is a tournament that they have prepared for in the last two years. As part of the preparations, they embarked on three tours to India and one to South Africa.

Just before the start of the tournament, they also played a preparatory series against Ireland which ended 1-1. They also played Asia Cup champions Bangladesh Under-19 during the unofficial practice matches in South Africa.

The Zimbabwe team travelled to South Africa early in order to acclimatise with the conditions.

“Our preparations have gone well so far,” he said.

“The combinations have started to work just at the right time.

“It was important to win the warm up game(s); It definitely gave the boys confidence going forward. As I mentioned earlier, our batting and bowling combinations are beginning to work.

“I was definitely looking forward to winning the warm-up games because it was crucial to solidify our confidence before the group games.

“But I think we can still improve on the batting front. We are having good starts but still losing wickets in clusters. So it’s an area that we need to improve.

“The guys are getting good starts but are not converting to big scores. So I am hoping to see a big improvement in that department.”

Zimbabwe Squad:

Nathaniel Hlabangana, Panashe Taruvinga, Ronak Patel, Campbell MacMillan, Ryan Kamwemba, Brendon Sunguro, Calton Takawira, Matthew Schonken (c), Anesu Kamuriwo, Newman Nyamhuri, Mashford Shungu, Kohl Eksteen, Panashe Gwatiringa, Ryan Simbi, Munashe Chimusoro.

 Zimbabwe Fixtures:

21 January: v Sri Lanka, Kimberley

25 January: v Australia, Kimberley

27 January: v Namibia, Kimberley