CHRISTCHURCH – Bangladesh and South Africa conclude their ICC Under-19 CWC campaigns with a fifth-place play-off in Christchurch on Wednesday.
Bangladesh will be full of confidence ahead of this encounter after producing an impressive performance against England in the fifth place play-off semifinal at the Queenstown Events Centre. Having restricted their opponents to 216 all out, the Tigers knocked off the target with five wickets and 15 balls to spare. It was comfortably their most complete display of the competition so far.
They opened the tournament with comfortable victories over Namibia and Canada, before coming unstuck in their final Group C encounter against England and then losing heavily at the hands of India in the Super League quarter-finals.
South Africa started with wins against Kenya and West Indies before losing to New Zealand in a fixture which decided the winner of Group A. That set up a Super League quarter-final versus Pakistan, which they narrowly lost by three wickets, before they exacted revenge against the Kiwis in the fifth place play-off semi-final, claiming a 73-run victory.
It's been a case of all or pretty much nothing for South Africa's captain Raynard van Tonder so far in the competition. He has notched two centuries, the second of which was a superb 117 in their last outing against New Zealand, but mustered only six runs in his other three knocks. Which van Tonder will turn up against Bangladesh?
This is South Africa’s 11th ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup appearance. After four near-misses – they came third at the 1998 and 2012 events, and were runners-up in 2002 and 2008 – they finally registered their maiden triumph in 2014, with a team featuring current Test players Aiden Markram, Andile Phehlukwayo and Kagiso Rabada. That was followed by their joint-worst performance, as they failed to make the quarter-finals in 2016, finishing 11th in the final analysis.
The two countries have met on 21 occasions at U19 level, with Bangladesh winning 14 and South Africa seven. However, at the ICC U19 CWC, the form-book is reversed, with South Africa emerging victorious from four of their five meetings.
The squads for Wednesday's match are:
Bangladesh: Saeif Hassan (c), Afif Hossain, Aminul Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Mohammad Naim, Mohammad Rakib, Pinak Ghosh, Qazi Onik, Robiul Hoque, Roni Hossen, Shakil Hossain, Tipu Sultan, Towhid Hridoy
South Africa: Raynard van Tonder (c), Matthew Breetzke, Gerald Coetzee, Jade de Klerk, Jean du Plessis, Fraser Jones, Wandile Makwetu, Akhona Mnyaka, Andile Mokgakane, Kgaudisa Molefe, Jason Niemand, Thando Ntini, Jiveshan Pillay, Hermann Rolfes, Kenan Smith