Zimbabwe Under-19s – 256-4 in 50 overs (David Bennett 77*, Brian Bennett 62, Connor Mitchell 42*; Johann Layne 2/44, Giovonte Depeiza 1/42)

West Indies Under-19s – 262-2 in 49.2 overs (Teddy Bishop 112*, Kevin Wickham 104, Rivaldo Clarke 28*; Brian Bennett 1/31, Matthew Schonken 1/38)

West Indies Under-19s won by eight wickets

Two excellent fifties by the Bennett brothers, Brian and David, were not enough to give the Zimbabwe Under-19s a win over the West Indies Under-19s in their ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 11th-place playoff match at Diego Martin in Trinidad on Monday.

The hosts romped home to victory by eight wickets.

The Zimbabwe Under-19s captain, Emmanuel Bawa, again won the toss and as usual decided to bat.

Matthew Welch quickly scored 10 and looked in good form, only to be caught off the bowling of Johanne Layne in the third over.

Bawa himself did not last long, and he was also caught off Layne for nine, leaving the score at 25 for two after seven overs.

Brian Bennett joined Steven Saul, and the pair worked hard to bring about a recovery, and 80 runs were on the board when Saul was run out for 34 in the 30th over.

Then came two fine partnerships that dominated the bowling, as David Bennett joined his twin brother Brian and they added 102 in 22.3 overs, the score being 182 for four when Brian was caught at the wicket for 62 off 84 balls, including eight fours, in the 43rd over.

The scoring rate was not as high as would be desirable, but Connor Mitchell was the right man to improve that, as he hammered the bowlers in fine style to score 42 not out off 26 balls, with two sixes and four fours.

David Bennett was still there when the innings closed at 256 for four wickets after 50 overs, with 77 not out off 105 balls, with three sixes and seven fours.

In their reply, the West Indies Under-19s started off badly as their captain, Matthew Nandu, was lbw to Brian Bennett’s first ball, the second over of the innings, for a single.

But then came 34 overs of fruitless toil for the Zimbabwean bowlers, as Teddy Bishop was joined by Kevin Wickham, and these two took charge of the bowling and swung the match their way with a magnificent partnership of 194 for the second wicket.

The leg-spinner Matthew Schonken commanded the most respect and it was he who finally broke the stand, although by this stage a West Indian victory was almost certain.

With the score at 195 after 35 overs, Schonken finally had Wickham caught by Mcgini Dube for 104, scored off 116 balls and containing 17 fours.

Rivaldo Clarke joined Bishop, but batted slowly, perhaps trying to help Bishop to his century.

Bishop duly reached his century in the 47th over and then celebrated with a six.

The West Indies Under-19s cut it rather fine in the end, winning with only four balls to spare.

Bishop finished with 112 not out off 121 balls, with a six and 11 fours, while Clarke was not out with 28.

Schonken finished with the best figures of the Zimbabwean bowlers, with one wicket for only 38 runs in his 10 overs.

The Zimbabwe Under-19s therefore have to be content to finish in 12th place at the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 after a rather mixed bag of performances.

Zimbabwe Under-19s – 248 all out in 49.5 overs (Matthew Welch 78, Brian Bennett 54, David Bennett 35; Jack Jarvis 3/46, Charlie Peet 2/36, Ruaridh McIntyre 1/13)

Scotland Under-19s – 140 all out in 39 overs (Tomas Mackintosh 25, Jack Jarvis 24, Charlie Tear 16; David Bennett 3/25, Connor Mitchell 3/29, Brian Bennett 1/12)

Zimbabwe Under-19s won by 108 runs

The Zimbabwe Under-19 team enjoyed a comfortable victory over Scotland Under-19s by 108 runs in their Plate quarter-final match at the ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup on Wednesday, with opening batter Matthew Welch setting them on their way with an excellent innings of 78.

They had the privilege of playing this game at the Queen’s Park Oval, the famous West Indies Test match ground at Port of Spain, Trinidad.

The Zimbabweans won the toss and decided to bat.

They lost Emmanuel Bawa early on for three, but fortunately Welch was in fine form again, and the score was 43 before he lost his next partner, Panashe Taruvinga, also for three.

Then came the main and ultimately the decisive feature of the match, a third-wicket partnership of 112 between Welch and Brian Bennett, who took the Zimbabweans to 155 before the third wicket fell in the 31st over, Bennett then being out for a brilliant 54 off 58 deliveries, with one six and five fours.

His brother David Bennett came in next and also batted well to score 35, while Welch was eventually caught for a superb 78, which took him 117 balls and included a six and seven fours.

David Bennett was out in the 44th over with the score at 215, but the later batters, in their effort to score quickly at the death, soon lost their wickets, none of them reaching double figures.

The Zimbabweans were all out for 248 with one ball left unbowled of their 50 overs.

Jack Jarvis was the most successful of the Scottish bowlers, taking three wickets for 46 in his 10 overs.

It was not an easy target for the Scotland Under-19s and they never really looked like chasing it down successfully.

Charlie Tear, opening their innings, played a few good strokes to score 16 off 21 balls before Mcgini Dube had him lbw with the score 18 in the seventh over.

Several times during the innings a useful partnership seemed to be developing, only for the Zimbabwean bowlers to break through and take a wicket before it was able to flourish.

The highest partnership was actually only 28 for the fourth wicket, when Jarvis began to hit out, scoring 24 off 20 balls with a six and three fours.

He was beginning to look dangerous when Connor Mitchell bowled him out to make the score 80 for four in the 22nd over.

Wickets fell steadily until the Scots were dismissed for 140 after 39 overs, giving the Zimbabweans victory, and passage through to the next round.

Pakistan Under-19s – 315-9 in 50 overs (Haseebullah Khan 135, Irfan Khan 75, Abdul Faseeh 27; Alex Falao 5/58, Mcgini Dube 3/68)

Zimbabwe Under-19s – 200 all out in 42.4 overs (Brian Bennett 83, Matthew Welch 26, Tendekai Mataranyika 26; Awais Ali 6/56, Zeeshan Zameer 2/32, Ahmed Khan 2/40)

Pakistan Under-19s won by 115 runs

Brian Bennett scored a brilliant 83 while Alex Falao claimed a magnificent five-wicket haul for the Zimbabwe Under-19s, even though they succumbed to a 115-run defeat at the hands of the Pakistan Under-19s in their ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 group match at Diego Martin in Trinidad on Monday.

The Pakistanis had compiled a massive total of 315 for nine wickets when batting first in what was virtually a two-man show by Haseebullah Khan and Irfan Khan, as none of their other batters reached 30.

The Zimbabwe Under-19s won the toss and opted to field first.

Mcgini Dube struck in the third over, as he had Muhammad Shehzad caught at the wicket for five, with the scoreboard on nine.

Abdul Faseeh stayed in with Haseebullah Khan until the score reached 55, when Falao took a return catch to dismiss him for 27.

Then came a difficult time for the Zimbabweans, as the two Khans piled on the agony with their partnership, which eventually realised 189 runs and lasted 28 overs at more than a run a ball.

When Falao finally removed Irfan Khan through a catch by David Bennett, the score was 244 for three and there were six overs left.

Their opponents used those overs well to plunder the bowling and take their score past 300, with Haseebulah finally departing to Falao for 135 – he faced 155 balls and hit four sixes and 10 fours.

The remaining batters threw their bats at the ball, got runs and got out in selfless fashion, with the number nine Zeeshan Zameer scoring 21 not out off only six balls, including three sixes.

The final total was a daunting 315 for nine wickets.

Falao took five of them, but they cost him 58 runs in nine overs, while Dube finished with three for 68 in 10 overs.

With such a huge target before them, the Zimbabwe Under-19 batters had no choice but to throw their bats at the ball almost from the start.

Steven Saul was out for 14 off 13 balls, and the hero of the match against Papua New Guinea, the captain Emmanuel Bawu, was caught at the wicket for five.

Wickets continued to fall, although Matthew Welch made 26, and seven wickets were down for 111 runs.

At this stage, though, Tendekai Mataranyika joined Brian Bennett and the two put up a fine fight.

While Mataranyika played a mainly defensive game, Brian Bennett continued to attack brilliantly, and they put on 83 in 19 overs for the eighth wicket.

Brian Bennett was eventually caught out at 104 for his superb 82, scored off 92 balls with a six and 11 fours.

Mataranyika soon followed for 25, but these two had done much to preserve Zimbabwe’s pride and dignity in a difficult situation.

The last pair took the score to 200 before the innings closed in the 43rd over.

Awais Ali, a medium-pace bowler, had done most of the damage with the ball for the Pakistanis and finished with figures of six for 56.

Zimbabwe will now face Papua New Guinea in their first match at the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 on Saturday after their fixture schedule was changed to accommodate Afghanistan who could not travel to the West Indies in time for the start of the tournament.

Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Papua New Guinea were drawn together in Group C of the biennial youth event that is set to run from 14 January to February 5.

According to the original schedule, Zimbabwe were supposed to open their campaign at the tournament against Afghanistan on 16 January, before taking on Papua New Guinea on 20 January and then facing Pakistan in their last group game on 22 January.

However, the ICC was forced to change the fixture schedule following the delayed arrival of Afghanistan into the region.

After successfully obtaining the necessary visas for travel, Afghanistan will arrive in the West Indies and undergo their required quarantine period.

To ensure all fixtures could be completed, Zimbabwe’s group matches, all to be played in Trinidad and Tobago, have been rescheduled as follows:

• 15 January – Zimbabwe v Papua New Guinea – Queens Park Oval

• 17 January – Pakistan v Zimbabwe – Diego Martin Sporting Complex

• 22 January – Afghanistan v Zimbabwe – Diego Martin Sporting Complex

All matches will start at 1500 hours Zimbabwe time.

“We are delighted that the Afghanistan squad have received the necessary visas and will be able to travel to participate in the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022,” ICC head of events Chris Tetley said.

“We have reworked the fixtures for Group C to ensure that all matches can take place within the allocated timeframe and would like to thank the participating members for their flexibility in finding a solution.”