SA U-19s to focus on the small things in semi-final against India

The South African U-19 team are aiming to focus on the small things which will hopefully help them upset the more fancied Indian team in their U-19 World Cup semi-final clash at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Tuesday (start 10am).

It has been a solid tournament for the SA U-19s who were expected to struggle to reach the competition knockouts, but they have instead punched above their weight to make it through to the playoffs.

They finished top of their pool on net run rate after strong wins over the West Indies and Scotland, but a loss to England meant they were level on four points with the Caribbean and UK sides.

Super Sixes

In the Super Six phase they hammered Zimbabwe by nine wickets and Sri Lanka by 119-runs, which saw them finish second behind Australia, which secured their semi spot against the unbeaten Indians.

However, India have already beaten the SA U-19 team twice this year, in a tri-series competition, along with Bangladesh, in January, by comfortable margins of seven and six wickets respectively, so the South Africans know exactly how tough it will be to get a win against them.

Captain Juan James though believes his team have grown over the tournament and know what they need to do to come out on top.

“It is going to be the team that plays the pressure situations the best that will come out on top. So we are just going to focus on the small things and hopefully we will come out on top,” said James.

“We know we have a number of work-ons. In our last game (against Sri Lanka), we tried to build partnerships, but that just didn’t happen. So we will have to rectify that.

“Another work-on is our catching. Dropping three slip catches is not ideal, but we are just going to work on it and hopefully it won’t happen again.”

Kwena Maphaka

The team will be relying on star fast bowler Kwena Maphaka putting in another match winning performance, with him top of the wicket taking charts in the competition with 18 scalps.

He became the first player to ever take three five wicket hauls in the tournament’s history, with figures of 5/38 against the West Indies, 5/34 against Zimbabwe and 6/21 against Sri Lanka and he will be eager to continue his rich vein of form.

Maphaka admitted that he had to keep his feet on the ground if he wanted to continue playing well, while he also explained how he targeted different batsmen in a match situation.

“I am feeling very confident at the moment. But I know that there is always something to work for and there is something to keep pushing for if we want to win this World Cup, so that is keeping me going,” said Maphaka.

“To the lefties (left handed batter) I try and go nice and away from them to nick them off, or send one back into the pads. While to the righties I just attack the stumps and that has worked out really nicely in this tournament.

“I just have to keep my feet on the ground. I have a really good support system. Especially my parents at home and my coaches and teammates who all keep me grounded which is very important.”