Utseya savours Super 6 qualification

ZIMBABWE U19 men's cricket team head coach, Prosper Utseya, has praised his charges for holding on to the cliff for an eightwicket victory in a must-win encounter against fellow African brothers Namibia at the weekend.

The victory saw the Young Chevrons book a place into the Super Six stage of the ongoing ICC U19 World Cup in South Africa.

Faced with a sink or swim predicament, Utseya's boys chose to swim safely to the shores thanks to Newman Nyamhuri's four wicket haul for 21 and Ryan Simbi's three for 20 that restricted Namibia to 146/8 in 50 overs in their final Group C encounter.

Opener Panashe Taruvinga stepped up with a half century 59 from 115 balls as Zimbabwe reached 147/2 to win the match with 87 balls to spare. Zimbabwe finished in third place in Group C to book a Super Six berth.

Utseya, whose team lost to Australia and Sri Lanka in the other group games, conceded that the pressure was high heading into their encounter against Namibia.

“The boys played very well. The pressure was high as it was a door-die match,” he said.

“Our bowlers set us up very well. The batting group was solid. They complemented the bowlers well.”

Zimbabwe's reward for beating Namibia is a meeting with giants South Africa and England in the Super Six stage of the competition.

They play the hosts South Africa tomorrow before clashing with England on Saturday.

“The qualification means a lot not only to the team but also to the nation as a whole. Being a Test-playing nation, expectations are high,” Utseya said.

Zimbabwe, however, has a huge mountain to climb in their quest to progress to the semifinals of the competition.

With each team carrying forward the points and the net run rate they earned against fellow Super Six qualifying teams, Zimbabwe unfortunately go into the Super Six stage without a point as their only win came against Namibia who failed to go through.

“It is a different level. Indeed, the teams are going to be more challenging. However, I believe our boys have the capacity. We just need to back our ability,” added Utseya.

“It is a disadvantage because it means we have to win with a good net run rate and hope to get favourable results when other teams play.”

The Super Six will involve the top three sides from each of the four round robin groups, with teams progressing from Group A and D making one group, and those from B and C, forming the other.

The six teams to make it from Groups A and D are India, Bangladesh, Ireland, Pakistan, New Zealand and Nepal.

Zimbabwe, South Africa, England, West Indies, Australia and Sri Lanka progressed from Groups B and C

USA, Afghanistan, Namibia and Scotland, the four teams who did not make the second stage of the tournament, will contest in playoffs for the last four places.

The top two sides from the two Super Six groups will progress to the semi-final stage.

Super Six fixtures Today:

India v New Zealand (Bloemfontein), Sri Lanka v West Indies (Kimberley), Pakistan v Ireland (Potchefstroom)

Tomorrow: Nepal v Bangladesh (Bloemfontein), Australia v England (Kimberley), Zimbabwe v South Africa (Potchefstroom)

Friday: India v Nepal (Bloemfontein), West Indies v Australia (Kimberley), South Africa v Sri Lanka (Potchefstroom)

Saturday: Pakistan v Bangladesh (Benoni), New Zealand v Ireland (Bloemfontein), England v Zimbabwe (Potchefstroom)