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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Under-19 cricket team was relegated to 12th place finish at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup after losing to hosts West Indies in a play-off match yesterday.
The Prosper Utseya-coached side lost by eight wickets after Teddy Bishop and Kevin Wickham each struck centuries for the hosts to upstage Zimbabwe’s 256/4.
Twin brothers Brian and David Bennett had earlier on continued with their fine form with the bat after scoring half centuries apiece at the Diego Martin Sporting Complex in Trinidad.
Zimbabwe’s leading scorer Brian Bennett contributed 62 runs and David Bennett was unbeaten on 77 runs.
Connor Mitchell’s cameo which yielded 42 runs from 26 balls helped Zimbabwe Under-19 reach a competitive score after they had started off poorly, and were at some point 25/2 after losing opener Matthew Welch (10) and captain Emmanuel Bawa (9).
But the West Indies youth side gave a good chase despite losing skipper Matthew Nandu in the second over to leave the scoreboard reading 1/1.
Bishops’ unbeaten 112 and Wickham’s 104 easily turned the game in the hosts’ favour as they reached 262/2, with four balls remaining.
The tournament continues today with the Super League semi-finals between England and Afghanistan. The other Super League semi-final will pit former champions India and Australia tomorrow.
ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 Bottom 8 placings
9 – United Arab Emirates
10 – Ireland
11 – West Indies
12 – Zimbabwe
13 – Uganda
14 – Scotland
15 – Canada
16 – Papua New Guinea
Online Reporter