Zimbabwe captain Liam Roche and his troops have a final in their sight when they take on Sri Lanka in an ICC Under-10 World Cup semi-final showdown in New Zealand today, with coach Steve Mangongo rallying his troops to rise to the occasion

ZIMBABWE Under-19 cricket coach Stephen Mangongo has challenged his players to step up their game against the Full Members as they face Sri Lanka in the Plate semi-final of the ICC under19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand today.

With both nations having missed out on Super League qualification, Liam Roche and Kamindu Mendis will lead their sides in a bid to reach the Plate final.

Mangongo is worried that Zimbabwe have been ruthless with Associate nations like Papua New Guinea and Namibia, whom they have beaten convincingly, but struggled against the Full Members.

Zimbabwe began their tournament in Group B with a crushing 10-wicket win over Papua New Guinea, who they skittled for 95 before romping home with 36 overs to spare.

However, they were no match for the other group members India and Australia.

The two defeats left them third in Group B and unable to progress to the Super League quarter-finals.

They were relegated to the Plate competition where they found their form and demolished Namibia by seven wickets without breaking a sweat.

Mangongo wants his charges to carry the form into the match against Sri Lanka as they now aim for a place in the Plate finals.

“Every match is very important for the growth and performance of our kids. So going into the Plate competition we would want to work as hard as we can. I am a very big believer that the Associate teams we must smash and that is a must.

“So far we have smashed PNG and Namibia in the matches that we played previously. Whoever we meet as an Associate we have to put them in their rightful place and anybody who is in the Plate competition, if they are a Full Member, it means they deserve to be down there.

“So we have to make sure we do well in the Plate and it’s time we graduate and stand up to the Full Members,” said Mangongo.

However, Sri Lanka are coming into the match with an intimidating form following the huge 311run win over Kenya which stood as the joint-second biggest winning margin in the history of the tournament.

A classy batting display, underpinned by a sensational 191 from Hasitha Boyagoda, helped Sri Lanka reach milestones in the crushing win over Kenya.

Sri Lanka’s 419/3 was their highest-ever score in a Youth ODI and the fourth-highest overall.

Earlier in the tournament, Sri Lanka beat Ireland in their opening fixture before defeats to Pakistan and Afghanistan ended their hopes of qualifying for the Super League stage.

But Zimbabwe are still fancying their chances after the light work over Namibia.

All-rounder Wesley Madhevere has been the most consistent performer in the team.

Madhevere is both the leading run-scorer and wicket-taker for Zimbabwe, and the only player to have made a fifty.

Following up his 53 (not out) and three wickets against Papua New Guinea, he posted 47 and claimed 2/11 from his six overs against Namibia.

An opening batsman and skilful off-spin bowler, Zimbabwe will likely need him to fire if they are to make the Plate final. Most of the players in the Zimbabwe side are still to prove themselves and this game could be the test.