The Sunday Mail
THE West Indies Under-19 side is in town and the welcome message from the hosts is loud and clear – we remember you.
Memories of a clash between Zimbabwe and the West Indies at the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh last year are still fresh in the minds of coach Steven Mangongo and his lads. Zimbabwean hearts were broken when number 11 batsman Richard Ngarava was dismissed through the “Mankad” by West Indies’ pacer Keemo Paul. Ngarava was the non-striking batsman but was run out by the bowler as he had moved out of the crease.
Mangongo’s men went on to lose the match by two runs while the boys from the Caribbean powered all the way to glory and won the World Cup. Now the two teams meet again in a Youth ODI series whose first game is on at Harare Sports Club today. Mangongo says it will be a total war. “We are very happy to have the West Indians here; they are our brothers from another mother (but) when we cross the boundary it’s total war,” he said.
“It was heart breaking, soul breaking when we crushed out of the World Cup after the unpopular mankad.
“That is still in our hearts and mind and is spurring us on as we get into this series. We plan to come out with all guns blazing and make sure that there is a fierce contest.” The West Indies tour marks the beginning of a busy period for Zimbabwe’s U19s, who will also be active in the domestic One Day competition from September.
It’s a period that has the team excited.
“We have a number of tours after West Indies, we have got Kenya, who have just qualified for the World Cup, (they are) dark horses. “We are going to Australia in September straight away from Australia we are going to India and from India we are coming back to play in the domestic men’s league.
“That’s a lot of cricket; it has never happened in the history of Zimbabwe. Its massive, we are prepared and looking forward to it,” said Mangongo.
