England Under-19 57/1 in 12.1 Overs

Teams:

Australia U19 (Playing XI): Will Malajczuk, Nitesh Samuel, Steven Hogan, Oliver Peake(c), Alex Lee Young(w), Jayden Draper, Aryan Sharma, Hayden Schiller, Naden Cooray, Will Byrom, Charles Lachmund

England U19 (Playing XI): Ben Dawkins, Joseph Moores, Ben Mayes, Thomas Rew(w/c), Caleb Falconer, Ralphie Albert, Farhan Ahmed, Sebastian Morgan, James Minto, Manny Lumsden, Alex French

Oliver Peake: We probably would have batted as well for the same reasons, but we bowled first majority in this tournament and feel comfortable doing so. (Conditions) Definitely a bit lower and slower than Namibia. So, it’s taken a bit of getting used to, but we had Harare and a few good training days here. So we feel ready to go. (Message to the team) Same as what we’ve really had for the whole tournament, to be honest, just keep enjoying it. Every opportunity is a cool one. And, we’ve got no pressure on us. There’s nothing to lose. It’s just about enjoying ourselves and seeing what we can do. Will Byrom comes in for Ben Gordon.

Thomas Rew: We’re going to bat first. We’ve had a bit of experience in this ground, so I think we’re going to try and use that to the best of our ability today and look to go and post a good score. (Conditions) A bit of inconsistent bounce throughout the day. Usually gets a little bit worse, spins and we’ll look to set the tone early. (Preparation) We had a rest day after the game and then a couple of training days just to prep for this. We’re feeling good. Just one change. Alex Green is ill and Alex French comes in.

Pitch Report | Lydia Greenway and Andy Flower: “Beautiful conditions here in Bulawayo. It’s pitch four today, which was the pitch used in the England-Bangladesh game. In terms of the temperatures, lows of 17, highs of 28. There’s not too much of a breeze at the moment. The sun’s been beating down on the square for the last week. And what that means is it’s a very, very dry pitch. And I want to just point out a couple of patches on the pitch here. We’ve got the straw grass in the middle of the pitch, but in amongst that, there are some of these really dry patches. And what that means for us is that it’s going to be inconsistent. It’s not going to be a flat Queen’s pitch. So I reckon that the four-seamer, the two-spinner balance is going to be absolutely crucial. Seam up front, attacking with the new ball, and then there’s going to be spin, both for the spinners and for the slower balls for the seamers. So tricky batting conditions, I reckon. And maybe not the huge scores above 300 that we might have expected. One thing is for sure, it’s going to be an absolute cracker.”