Zimbabwe Under-19s – 267-9 in 50 overs (Dion Myers 70, Wessly Madhevere 55, Milton Shumba 45; Jonathan Bird 2/42, Odirile Modimokoane 2/44, Merrick Brett 2/48)
South Africa Under-19s – 236 in 46.2 overs (Bryce Parsons 65, Tiaan van Vuuren 48, Merrick Brett 37; Tadiwanashe Nyangani 5/45, Dion Myers 2/56, Wessly Madhevere 1/33)
Zimbabwe Under-19s won by 31 runs
Left-arm chinaman bowler Tadiwanshe Nyangani claimed a five-wicket haul to inspire the Zimbabwe Under-19 cricket team to a 31-run victory over their South Africa counterparts in the Quadrangular Under-19 Series in Durban on Tuesday.
It was a magnificent team effort though as Zimbabwe held the advantage almost from beginning to end, with Dion Myers and Wessley Madhevere scoring fifties after the hosts won the toss and asked Prosper Utseya’s charges to bat first.
Zimbabwe lost opening batsman Gareth Chirawu in the first over, but then Madhevere and Milton Shumba took charge in a second-wicket partnership of 107 off 24 overs.
Madhevere scored 55 and Shumba 45, both falling on 109, but then the captain, Myers, took over and came into his own.
He scored 70 off 76 balls, his help coming chiefly from Tadiwanashe Marumani with 17 and Taurayi Tugwete with 23.
Myers fell at 231 in the 46th over, having hit seven fours and a six, but Tugwete and the number 10 batsman, Nkosilathi Nungu (21 not out), continued the attack and took the final total after 50 overs to 267 for nine wickets.
When South Africa responded, Madhevere struck quickly with the ball, trapping the opening batsman Andrew Louw lbw for two.
Bryce Parsons, with 65 off 60 balls, played a fine attacking innings to keep South Africa in the hunt, and the hundred came up in the 17th over.
At this point, however, Parsons was caught at the wicket off Nungu, and this proved to be the turning point of the match.
Two further wickets fell quickly, and with five out for 117 the Zimbabweans scented victory.
In the 30th over seven batsmen were out with the score only 151, but then came a fighting partnership between Tiaan van Vuuren, with 48, and Merrick Brett, 37, for the eighth wicket.
However, they were unable to keep up with the required run rate and began to fall behind.
When Brett fell at 220 the Zimbabweans were almost home, and they managed to bowl the South Africans out for 236 to win the match with almost four overs to spare.
The most successful bowler was the spinner Nyangani, who took five of the last six wickets to fall for 45 runs in his 10 overs.
Myers took two wickets, while Madhevere and Shumba both bowled very economically, going at around only four runs an over between them, and put pressure on the South Africa batsmen.
Nyangani was voted Player of the Match, although it was a team effort that brought our national Under-19 team a glorious victory against the odds and did their country proud.
Zimbabwe narrowly missed out on the final of the Quadrangular Under-19 Series due to an inferior run-rate and had to settle for third place behind South Africa and ahead of New Zealand – the three teams each had two points from their single victories.
This means South Africa will on Thursday face India, who have a perfect record of three wins, in the final of the series that is serving as a warm-up tournament ahead of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2020.
On the same day, Zimbabwe and New Zealand will tussle it out in a third-place playoff match.
News Sport Online 