PROVIDENCE: The Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup gets underway on Friday as hosts West Indies kickoff in the curtain-raiser against Australia at Providence Stadium, Guyana.
The hosts slipped to heavy defeats against India and South Africa in the warm-up match, failing to cross the 200-barrier with the bat on both occasions. However, coach Floyd Reifer is not concerned about his side’s ability to score big, saying: “I think the batting comes down to the mindset of the players in terms of spending some more time at the crease and building some more partnerships.”
“I would say the warm-up games that we have played were two low-scoring games, so I wouldn’t want to put too much emphasis on that. Yes, we know as a batting unit there are certain things we want to accomplish, guys building on starts and these are things we are discussing.”
“I’m confident in the lads, we have a talented bunch of cricketers, we have some good batters here, it’s just a matter for us now to just do the one percenters right and then we will respond with some consistency.”
Australia also have plenty of questions to answer after a nine-wicket defeat to India in their only warm-up encounter but with two progressing from Group D, which also includes Scotland and Sri Lanka, captain Cooper Connolly is still bullish about his side’s chances.
“[The India defeat] was a reality check for us against one of the strongest sides, maybe the favourite,” said Connolly, who was part of the Australia side that lost in the quarter-finals in South Africa two years ago.
“But our team is checking out really well and I feel like we’re in good shape for the first game. We can’t start off really easy, we’ve got to beat the West Indies and come out with a strong mindset. Hopefully we can knock them over.”
Scotland were bowled out for 138 in a seven-wicket defeat to Ireland in their warm-up game but beat Uganda in their opening hit out and will be looking to carry the momentum from their win into the group stages.
Sri Lanka will be a threat for everyone after two very impressive warm-up wins over Uganda and Ireland. They will look to continue that good form into their opener against the Scots in Guyana on Friday.
Defending champions Bangladesh are aiming to defend the crown they won in 2020 but have had mixed preparations after beating Zimbabwe but losing to Pakistan – who look to be the early favourites in Group C – in the build-up.
Their opening Group A game is against England in St Kitts and Nevis on Sunday and skipper Rakibul Hasan, who was part of the victorious 2020 squad, insists they are starting to adjust to the Caribbean conditions. England have shown some good form the warm-ups racking up 359 for seven in the 281-run victory over Papua New Guinea.
India and South Africa face off on Saturday with both having seen off the tournament hosts in their preparations. The two big-hitters will also face Uganda and Ireland, who also play each other on Saturday.
The Irish could be a surprise package and are led by Tim Tector, the third consecutive Tector brother, after Jack and Harry, to captain his country at this tournament
