The South African under-19 cricket team has hosted its final pre-World Cup training session at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley. South Africa will host the rest of the world in the 13th edition of the ICC under-19 Cricket World Cup from tomorrow to February the 9th. South Africa will face Afghanistan, Canada and the United Arab Emirates in Group D.
The 16-team tournament will visit four cities across the country during the tournament. The opening match will be between South Africa and Afghanistan on Friday. SA Head Coach, Lawrence Mahatlane says they worked very hard to get to this point.
“It’s been 22-years since South Africa last hosted the World Cup in 1998 and it’s exciting for the young men. I think the most important thing is being at home. We are very fortunate to be able to play the World Cup at home. And it’s exciting times for everyone. We’ve worked hard over the last two years to get to this point and we’ve given different players different opportunities.”
Under-19 cricket team player, Andrew Louw, says the team is confident ahead of the match.
“There’s been a lot of preparation that has gone into it. There’s been hard work done behind the scenes obviously. So we’ve made sure that we covered all basis leaving no stones unturned. So we definitely ready for tomorrow. I think everything is put in place and we should be up for it. Team spirit is quite good I think there’s a lot of good charts there’s a lot of confidence amongst the guys. I think here and there perhaps a few guys that still need to come out of their shells. I think things are good for us as a team.”
