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STAR IN THE MAKING . . . Zimbabwean all-rounder Wesley Madhevere had another good day with both ball and bat as he led from the front in the destruction of Namibia in the Plate quarter-finals of the ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand yesterday

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
WESLEY Madhevere was the star of the show as the Zimbabwe Under-19 cricket team cruised to an easy seven-wicket win over Namibia yesterday to qualify for the Plate semi-final at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup currently underway in New Zealand.

The former Churchill High School all-rounder led with both bat and ball as Zimbabwe maintained their dominance over their regional counterparts with six wins in six meetings. Zimbabwe had a spirited outing on the field and bundled out the Namibians for 113 runs and then made light work of the modest chase.

Coach Stephen Mangongo’s men, who were coming from back-to-back defeats against Australia and India, which relegated them to the Plate championship, raced to 114/3 inside 19 overs.

Having led the rout with Zimbabwe’s best bowling figures of 2/11, Madhevere continued with his fine form with the bat when he opened the batting with Gregory Dollar (0) and scored 47 runs to set up the perfect platform for a big win.

Zimbabwe knew they did not have to take anything for granted against the Associate opponents. Two years ago, Namibia made headlines at the last World Cup in Bangladesh when they beat giants South Africa and made it to the Super League. They qualified for this year’s tournament automatically, having finished as the highest-ranked Associate side in 2016.

However, the current crop could not match the heights scaled by their predecessor. Namibia were no match against a spirited Zimbabwe attack, for whom almost all of their seven bowlers contributed to the wickets column.

The pick of the lot was Madhevere and his 2/11 as he captured the wickets of Petrus Burger and Gerhard Lottering who formed the only positive stand for Namibia with their 28-run partnership for the seventh wicket.

Madhevere then contributed with the bat as well, scoring a 38-ball 47 to propel the innings after Namibia managed a couple of early wickets.

Alistair Frost (30) and Tinashe Nenhunzi (23) put on an unbroken 36-run stand to see the chase through. The victory did not come without a wobble though.

Namibia managed to dismiss opener Dollar with just the second ball of the innings — much like what Zimbabwe had done to them in the morning — and they were buzzing in the next over when Dion Myers (2) was sent back as well after Lottering trapped him in front.

But Madhevere then took charge and there were boundaries aplenty against Lottering, Burger and Jean de Villiers. It looked as though Madhevere would see the chase through but a mistimed chip to cover was caught on the second attempt by Loftie-Eaton and Zimbabwe’s all-round star had to make way.

Despite that, Frost (30 off 57) and Nenhunzi (23 off 14) rotated strike and kept the scoreboard moving. As the target neared, they stepped on the pedal, and the winning runs were brought up in 19.3 overs as Zimbabwe barely broke sweat all day. Zimbabwe now wait for their next opponents in the Plate semi-finals.