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ZIMBABWE Under-19 cricket team manager Nick Singo says the youth side will need to put behind them the disappointment of failing to make the Super Eight stage at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup as they brace for a Southern Africa derby against Namibia in the Plate quarter-finals.
The teams will clash tomorrow morning at the Abu Dhabi Oval 2, in the United Arab Emirates.
Singo told The Herald yesterday that they need to pick up the pieces after finishing third in their group despite having made a promising start to this year’s tournament by beating Canada in their opening match last week.
Successive losses to the West Indies and South Africa, however, ruled them out of contention for the main cup competition as only two teams from the pool were guaranteed progress to the Super Eight.
Zimbabwe finished with two points in the bag, behind South Africa and the West Indies, with Canada anchoring the pool.
Singo said the whole team was devastated by the early exit but will need to channel their energies towards the Plate competition.
“We are all okay although we are still very disappointed that we did not make it into the quarter finals.
“Yes, we have been paired against Namibia, and we are going to take it very seriously as we understand that we are representing Zimbabwe. There are no minnows in this tournament.
“Any team can win against any other team.
“Just to remind you most of the Namibian players go to South African schools, meaning that at school level they are playing more competitive games than us.
“So we can’t underrate them. We have seen them playing and they are a competitive unit. Our objective now is to get into the plate finals.
“We lost most of our games because of poor batting and application. Building innings was always a problem. Even when we were on top of a situation we found a way of losing. The medication for that is simply to play more games.
“We will assess the team’s performance once we have played all our games. Otherwise, we are still preparing the team as if we are in the Super Eight group. It is always an honour to represent your country,” said Singo.
Online Reporter