The Sunday Mail
Sports Reporter
Despite finishing in 12th place at the recently held ICC Under-19 World Cup in West Indies, Zimbabwe have got something to smile about after four of their players were named among the top-ranked cricketers at the tournament.
The quartet of Matthew Welch, Alex Falao and twin brothers Brian and David Bennett were ranked in the top 10 of overall batting and bowling rankings.
Brian Bennet and Welch were ranked second and sixth respectively for players with the most half-centuries.
Bennet was tied on three half-centuries with South Africa’s Dewald Brevis but lost out on the top position because of less runs during the tourney.
He had 249 runs in six matches and was also rated the third-best player with the highest numbers of 4s at 33.
Brian’s twin, David, had the fourth-best bowling average and sixth-best strike rate.
David gave away only 25 runs in eight overs and managed to take away three wickets.
Alex Falao five-wicket haul in the match against Pakistan was ranked the eight-best five-wicket hauler by the ICC.
The 18-year-old right-arm medium-bowler believes he deserved to be among the best after putting up his best performance.
“For me, to be in the top 10 rankings of bowling at the World Cup I feel like I handled pressure.
“I was performing to the best of my ability on whatever I was doing and I was happy because I was working and getting good results,” said Falao.
Welch described the ranking as a great honour. “It’s an honour to wear the national shirt; I enjoyed that immensely.
“I think I was lying seventh at one point after the first three games, but not sure where I ended up, but it is a good feeling knowing I am thereabout in the top ten,” he said.
Zimbabwe Under-19 coach Prosper Utseya was proud of the individual achievements of his charges, calling on the responsible authorities to continue nurturing them.
“I am proud of their individual achievements and the hard work we put in during the tournament.
“This goes to show that our future is bright, should the above-mentioned players continue to go through proper development pathways. I have no doubt they will go on to dominate at the international level,” said Utseya.
Meanwhile, on the local scene, Southern Rocks look determined to deny Mountaineers from being crowned the 2021-2022 Logan Cup Champions.
Mountaineers are second on the table with 50 points from seven games, one less than Tuskers, who lead the log table with 53 points.
With a draw being enough for the Mutare-based franchise to snatch the trophy in their last match, it is now proving to be an uphill task.
They found themselves trailing Southern Rocks by 426 runs at stumps of Day Two yesterday.
After winning the toss, Southern Rocks chose to bat first, and Cephas Zhuwao put up the performance of his life as he hit 152 runs off 168 balls.
After stumps on Day One, Rocks were 303 for the loss of four wickets.
They continued with their fine run with the bat as they went on to be bowled out for 477 runs in their first innings.
With Mountaineers facing a big total to chase in their quest for the Logan Cup title, they started off their innings on a bad note as they lost three wickets in 20 overs for a paltry 51 runs.
