The Zimbabwe Under-19 cricket team’s confidence received a major blow ahead of their first match on Saturday after suffering a morale shattering 131-run defeat to England in their last warm-up match of the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup against England at WEP Harris Oval, Brisbane, Australia, yesterday.
Zimbabwe, who hammered Namibia by eight wickets on Tuesday, seemed to be well on course to cause an upset after reducing England to 104 for seven inside 25 of their allotted 50 overs.
However, number-nine batsman Brett Hutton (55) and number-10 batsman Tom Knight (26) had other ideas, as they put on 51 runs for the ninth wicket as England, after electing to bat first, were bowled out for a modest 220 in 49,4 overs.
Right-arm fast medium bowler Cuthbert Musoko took his tally in the two warm-up matches to eight wickets after grabbing four more wickets for 39 runs yesterday while fellow seamer Kyle Bowie snapped up three for 44.
In their reply, Zimbabwe were bundled out for a paltry 89 in less than 36 overs after slipping to 60 for seven in less than 22,3 overs with none of their top six batsmen managing to reach double figures.
Nyasha Mayavo (21), Campbell Light (15) and Kieran Geyle (10) were the only batsmen to reach double figures.
Hutton completed a fine day on the field with figures of three for 28 while Shozair Ali claimed two for 10. Knight followed up his 26 with the bat with two wickets in seven balls.
After yesterday’s pathetic batting display, Zimbabwe will be hoping to put on a better display in their opening Group C tie against Papua New Guinea at Endeavour Park, in Brisbane on Saturday. Scores in brief: England 220 all out, 49,4 overs (Brett Hutton 55, Ben Duckett 45, Craig Overton 27, Tom Knight 26; Cuthbert Musoko 4-39, Kyle Bowie 3-44) Zimbabwe 89 all out in 35,2 overs (Brett Hutton 3-28, Shozair Ali 2-2-10, Tom Knight 2-1)
