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Highest wicket-taker Wellalage, only SL player in the ICC Most Valuable team
Dunith Wellalage is the only Sri Lankan player named in the ICC Most Valuable team of the Under 19 World Cup after the Sri Lankan skipper finished as the tournament’s highest wicket-taker.
Despite taking only a single wicket in the in his last two matches, Wellalage finished as the Under 19 World Cup’s highest wicket taker. His closest rival in that list was England’s Joshua Boyden who finished with just 15 wickets after taking a couple of wickets in the final against India.
Pakistan’s Awais Ali too finished with 15 wickets, while Bangladesh’s Ripon Mondol finished the tournament as the fourth highest wicket taker (14). All top four bowlers in that list are selected in the 12-strong line up as champions India lead the way with three players included.
The ICC announced the Upstox Most Valuable Team of the Tournament yesterday with Yash Dhull, the captain of the victorious team chosen to skipper a line-up of future stars.
Overall, eight nations are represented in the team.
Pace is provided by the likes of Josh Boyden, Awais Ali and Ripon Mondol.
All-rounders Tom Prest and Dunith Wellalage provide the spin options alongside Vicky Ostwal.
Wellalage had an aggregate of 264 runs from the tournament which included a century. In the list if highest scorers Wellalage’s 264 runs is ranked seventh.
Wellalage captained Sri Lanka to the sixth place, their best result in three editions, and he was the only bowler to take two fivefers, doing so against Scotland and Australia.
South Africa’s Dewald Brevis was announced as the Player of the Tournament for the ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 in West Indies for his record-breaking run haul.
The side was pulled together by a selection panel including commentators Samuel Badree, Natalie Germanos, ICC Match Referee Graeme Labrooy and journalist Sandipan Banerjee.
Yash Dhull, who captained India to the title at the ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022, takes up his place at number four having hit 229 runs in the competition, including one century, and his deployment of his bowlers was crucial in leading his side to overall victory in the tournament.
His opposite number in the final, England’s Tom Prest, sits one place below them in the batting order of the Upstox Most Valuable Team of the Tournament having hit 292 runs in six games, the third most of the competition.
Dewald Brevis, a right-handed batter, received the accolade of Player of the Tournament after crashing 506 runs across six matches to become only the second player to hit over 500 runs at an Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup.
In doing so, the 18-year-old passed Indian legend Shikhar Dhawan’s total for the most runs in a single tournament, hitting one more run than Dhawan managed in 2004.
Brevis also took seven wickets in the competition returning best figures of 2-18 against Uganda during the group stages.
Haseebullah Khan from Pakistan is named as one of the openers after scoring 380 runs across the U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, his high score of 136 one of two centuries he made in the tournament, Brevis was the only other batter to make two centuries.
Haseebullah is also selected as the wicketkeeper having taken eight catches and two stumpings, the fourth best return of the competition.
His opening partner is Australia’s Teague Wyllie who tied with Angkrish Raghuvanshi for 278 runs, the joint fourth-most of the tournament.
Wyllie hit 39 fours, the second most, including eight in his 101 not out against Scotland, one of three fifty-plus scores in the tournament.
Raj Bawa is another all-rounder who has impressed throughout the World Cup, hitting a tournament-high 162 not out against Uganda, on his way to 252 runs for the competition.
Bawa was Player of the Match in the final against England taking five for 31 to put India in a strong position and take his wicket tally to nine.
Just below him in the line-up is teammate Vicky Ostwal who took 12 wickets across his six matches with his left-arm orthodox including five for 28 against South Africa.
Bangladesh’s representative in the team comes in the form of right-arm seamer Ripon Mondol, who took wickets in all but one of Bangladesh’s games.
And, against Canada and India he took four-fers to end the tournament on 14 wickets, the joint third-highest of the 2022 competition.
The other bowler who sits above him in the wicket standings is Awais Ali of Pakistan who claimed 15 wickets in his six matches, including six for 56, one of only two six-fers in the tournament.
The right-arm medium pacer opened up the tournament with those six wickets against Zimbabwe and was consistent as Pakistan finished in the top five for the fifth consecutive competition.
England’s Josh Boyden earns his place for his extremely economical bowling, chalking up 15 wickets in the tournament with an economy of 3.21 and an average of 9.86, the best in the tournament for any bowler with seven wickets or more.
The final name on the team sheet is Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad. The all-rounder took wickets in every World Cup game on his way to 10 wickets, with best figures of two for 18 against Papua New Guinea.
With the bat, Ahmad made three scores over 24 to provide useful runs in the lower order as Afghanistan finished fourth, their joint-highest finish at an ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022.
The team of the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 (in batting order) is:
Haseebullah Khan (WK, Pakistan)
Teague Wyllie (Australia)
Dewald Brevis (South Africa)
Yash Dhull (Captain, India)
Tom Prest (England)
Dunith Wellalage (Sri Lanka)
Raj Bawa (India)
Vicky Ostwal (India)
Ripon Mondol (Bangladesh)
Awais Ali (Pakistan)
Josh Boyden (England)
Noor Ahmad (Afghanistan)
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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