DHAKA, Bangladesh, CMC – West Indies Under-19s will today bid for a place in the final of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup but will face perhaps their sternest test of the competition, if they are to reach the championship game.
The Caribbean side take on an accomplished Bangladesh Under-19s who whitewashed them in a three-match warm-up series prior to the tournament, and who have played unbeaten since.
After making a slow start to the tour, West Indies have consistently improved and manager Dwain Gill is hoping this progress can be reflected against the Bangladeshis.
“We lost the three game series but we came in to that series without playing any youth ODIs over the last year and they are a very well prepared team,” Gill told CMC Sports ahead of today’s final which bowls off at 9 am here (11 pm, Wednesday, Eastern Caribbean time).
“We saw against Bangladesh … we were getting better and better all the time. It is going to be difficult because Bangladesh are always going to be difficult to beat at home especially at Mirpur.
“We expect a spinners track. But at the same time we think that our players are getting better and we are confident we can put up a good showing against Bangladesh.”
Following the whitewash, West Indies lost their opening game of the tournament to England by 61 runs but then routed Fiji by 262 runs before edging Zimbabwe by two runs to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Bangladesh have had no such hiccups, trouncing South Africa by 43 runs, hammering Scotland by 114 runs and easily getting past Namibia by eight wickets.
West Indies head coach Graeme West said Bangladesh were a strong side but were not an unknown quantity for the Windies.
“Their top six are all well organised batters and their spin attack is very broad but very skilful in the conditions here in Bangladesh,” West pointed out.
“They also have two good seam bowlers … but they (team) are not an unknown quantity to us. We’re very familiar with them, we know what to look out for and hopefully … we can establish a method not just to be competitive but ultimately to be successful.”
He continued: “There’s a huge amount of support for Bangladesh here. It’s the first time they’ve reached the semi-finals of an ICC competition. We’ve got to hope that gets into them a little bit because they’re going to be huge expectations.
“They are a good side. We will certainly be the underdogs but [in the last game] we took on a similar label and boys responded very well. It will be a great test in terms of the progress we’ve made since we arrived in Bangladesh early in January.”
Captain Shimron Hetmyer, a first class player, suffered a poor run of form during the tournament but found his touch in the quarter-final win over Pakistan on Monday with an aggressive half-century.
Openers Gidron Pope and Tevin Imlach, all-rounders Shamar Springer and Keemo Paul along with Jyd Goolie have all had important knocks while pacer Alzarri Joseph has been outstanding with the new ball.
However, Gill acknowledged that Thursday’s semi-final at the Shere Bangla Stadium would come down to test of nerves and not necessarily form.
“The semi-final knock out stage is a pressure situation. We have seen that the team that handles the pressure better will win on the day,” Gill stressed.
“Nothing counts now – nothing about preparation and how much matches you’ve had. We are aware they will have the home advantage but we are not daunted, we believe the boys have what it takes to really come to the party and beat Bangladesh in the semi-finals.”
The winner will progress to Sunday’s final to face India who defeated Sri Lanka by 97 runs in Tuesday’s first semi-final.
SQUADS:
BANGLADESH – Hasan Miraz (captain), Abdul Halim, Ariful Islam, Jaker Ali, Joyraz Sheik, Mehedi Mehedi, Hasan Rana, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosabbek Hossain, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Pinak Ghosh, Saeed Sarkar, Saif Hassan, Saleh Ahmed Shawon, Shafiul Hayet, Zakir Hasan.
WEST INDIES – Shimron Hetmyer (captain), Keacy Carty, Shahid Crooks, Michael Frew, Jyd Goolie, Chemar Holder, Tevin Imlach, Ryan John, Alzarri Joseph, Kirstan Kallicharan, Keemo Paul, Gidron Pope, Odean Smith, Shamar Springer, Emmanuel Stewart.