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Steve Mangongo

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Under-19 cricket team coach Stephen Mangongo says their chances of making the Super League are as good as any of the 16 teams that have converged in New Zealand for the 2018 edition of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup which gets underway this Saturday.

The youth team are in an interesting Group B that includes India and Australia, who have won the title three times apiece, and dark horses Papua New Guinea. Mangongo and his charges were supposed to wind up their preparations yesterday with a practice match against the West Indies but the game was abandoned without a ball bowled because of bad weather.

Zimbabwe lost to New Zealand by 52 runs in the other warm up game on Monday but Mangongo is still looking to build on the extensive preparations they have had ahead of this tournament. Mangongo’s side have been in New Zealand for a month and they are confident they have done well to acclimatise to the erratic weather conditions they found down in the Oceania.

“It’s a tough place to tour, massive winds. After playing five warm up matches the boys are settling and finding their bearing. We were so privileged to play a strong Wellington side with seasoned campaigners like Michael Pappas a veteran of 183 first class games and eight Tests for New Zealand.

“Our boys also played against six other First Class players for the Wellington Firebirds. This in short and long-term was beneficial to our boys. On Saturday we must hit the ground running like Usain Bolt. Must collect all maximum points and target a bonus as weather is very fickle here,” said Mangongo.

Zimbabwe open their campaign against Papua New Guinea on Saturday. Australia will be next four days later before wrapping up the group assignments against India on January 19.

There are 16 teams at the tournament drawn into four groups. The top two from each group advance to the Super League quarter-finals on the route to the semi-finals and the finals scheduled for February 3. The bottom two teams in each group will not return home immediately but will move on to the Plate quarter-finals, before the semi-finals and a final are also played out in that section.

Zimbabwe are looking to better their performances from the previous tournament in Bangladesh two years ago. They failed to make the Super League but managed a 10th place finish after beating highly rated neighbours South Africa in the Plate semi-final play-offs.

Mangongo said they are not losing sleep because of the high level competition they expect from group favourites Australia and India who sounded warning shots with big wins in their practice games this week. India thumped South Africa by 189 runs while Australia beat Sri Lanka by 53 runs.

“We don’’t fear Australia and India, we are all international youth cricketers. Yes, India have seven First Class experienced players but we are backing our processes and game plans to give us positive results. It’s not the size of the dog but the size of the fight on the particular day which matters.

“We take massive confidence in that in the last edition we busted South Africa and during our current preparations we beat West Indies the current holders of the trophy. So yes, it’s about being up for it on the day. Our chances are as good like any other team in this competition. As coaches we have done all possible preparations. It’’s now up to the players to cross the rope and show off their skills,” said Mangongo.

Zimbabwe Under-19 squad
Liam Roche (capt), Robert Chimhinya, Jonathan Connolly, Gregory Dollar, Alistair Frost, Taun Harrison, Wesley Madhevere, Tanunurwa Makoni, Donald Mlambo, Dion Myers, Tinashe Nenhunzi, Nkosilatu Nunu, Kieran Robinson, Jayden Schadendorf, Milton Shumba