Pakistan U19 will be aiming to end their group-stage fixtures of the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup on a winning note when they take on Zimbabwe U19 at the Takashinga Sports Club in Harare today (Thursday).
The Asian champions, who are part of Group ‘C’ in the ongoing mega event, defeated Scotland by six wickets on Monday, while they suffered a 37-run defeat against England on Friday.
The Farhan Yousaf-led Pakistan side, who recently won the tri-series in Zimbabwe by beating the hosts by nine wickets in the final, will be expecting their players to replicate those performances in tomorrow’s important encounter.
The first ball of the match will be bowled at 9.30am local time, with the toss scheduled at 9am, according to a PCB statement.
In head-to-head contests, Pakistan U19 and Zimbabwe U19 have faced each other 18 times, with Pakistan winning 15 matches.
Zimbabwe have won once, while two matches ended with no result due to rain.
As per the format of the 16-team, four-group tournament, the top three sides from each group will qualify for the Super Six stage.
The top three teams from Group ‘B’ will join the three qualifiers from Group ‘C’ to form one Super Six group.
Similarly, the top three teams from Group ‘A’ will combine with the three qualifiers from Group ‘D’ in the other group.
Pakistan, who are currently placed second in Group ‘C’, are likely to face B3 at the Harare Sports Club on January 27, before taking on B1 at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on February 1.
The top two teams from each Super Six group will qualify for the semi-finals, scheduled to be played on February 3 and 4.
The final of the tournament will be played at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on February 6.
15-member squad:
Farhan Yousaf (captain), Usman Khan (vice-captain), Abdul Subhan, Ahmed Hussain, Ali Hasan Baloch, Ali Raza, Daniyal Ali Khan, Hamza Zahoor (wk), Huzaifa Ahsan, Momin Qamar, Mohammad Sayyam, Mohammad Shayan (wk), Niqab Shafiq, Sameer Minhas and Umar Zaib
