ZIMBABWE U19 cricketers will this morning face off with Bangladesh as they continue to fine-tune their preparations ahead of the U/19 World Cup which kicks off in South Africa next week.
The game against the Young Tigers conclude the team's Pre-World Cup series of warm up matches after they also played against North West Colts which plays in the South Africa Colts league, and Ireland.
Despite getting mixed results in the early warm up games, head coach Prosper Utseya is impressed with what he has seen from the boys so far.
Former champions Bangladesh are a quality opposition and such practice matches against good opponents could prove to be invaluable for Zimbabwe.
After the clash against the young Tigers, Zimbabwe will get into the official warm up matches ahead of the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024 being played in South Africa from January 19 to February 11.
The team lost to Cricket South Africa Colts league side, North West Colts in their early warm up games.
“I believe we have prepared well, and our boys are in good space to tackle the challenge that is the World Cup,” Utseya told NewsDay Sport yesterday.
“The Pre-World Cup series against North West Colts and Ireland were good games for us. We played our first game against North West Colts, who beat us marginally, giving our boys a good test. The North West Colts is a team of marginally older guys and more experienced players, and I was impressed with the way our boys competed.”
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The Zimbabwe U19 had mixed fortunes against Ireland, losing the first warm up gane and bouncing back to thrash them in the reverse fixture.
“We lost the first match against Ireland, and coming back to win the second match was a real confidence booster for the boys going into the last match of our Pre- World Cup series tomorrow (this morning) against Bangladesh,” added the former Chevrons skipper.
“After the Pre- World Cup series, we will enter the official World Cup warm up matches playing against Ireland and USA U19 respectively.”
Zimbabwe are in Group C together with three-time World Cup winners, Australia, Sri Lanka and Namibia. Group A is made up of four-time winners, India, Bangladesh, Ireland and USA while Group B comprises England, hosts South Africa, West Indies and Scotland. Group D is made up of Afghanistan, two-time champions Pakistan, New Zealand and Nepal.
