2015 ICC Africa Under-19 Championship Division One

2015 ICC Africa Under-19 Championship
Dates14 – 20 February 2015
Administrator(s)African Cricket Association
Cricket format50-over
Tournament format(s)Round-robin
Host(s) Tanzania
Champions Namibia (5th title)
Participants6
Matches15
Player of the seriesKenya Paramveer Singh
Most runsNamibia Zane Green (271)
Most wicketsKenya Snehil Gajparia (13)
← 2013

The 2015 ICC Africa Under-19 Championship was a cricket tournament held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 14–20 February 2015.

Namibia won the tournament (its fifth overall, and third consecutive) on points from Uganda, thus qualifying directly for the 2016 ICC Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh. As runner-up, Uganda qualified for the 2015 Under-19 World Cup Qualifier, along with runners-up at other regional tournaments, with the winner of the World Cup Qualifier securing the final place at the World Cup.[1] Two African under-19 sides, South Africa and Zimbabwe, are ICC full members, and thus qualify directly for the World Cup.

The tournament was the sixth edition of the ICC Africa Under-19 Championships, and the first to be held in Tanzania. It was originally scheduled to be played in Namibia in December 2014, but was postponed and then relocated by the African Cricket Association, only a month before the tournament's scheduled start. Matches at the tournament were televised live on Azam TV, an East African satellite provider.[2]

Teams and qualification

The top five teams at the eight-team 2013 Division One tournament qualified directly for the 2015 Division One tournament.[3] The three bottom teams (Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zambia) were relegated to the 2014 ICC Africa Under-19 Championship Division Two tournament. Tanzania were undefeated at the tournament, and consequently returned to Division One.[4]

  Teams at the 2015 ICC Africa Under-19 Championship (Division One)
  Teams automatically qualified for the 2016 World Cup (ICC full members)
Team Mode of qualification
 Namibia Champion of 2013 Division One
 Kenya Runner-up in 2013 Division One
 Uganda 3rd place in 2013 Division One
 Botswana 4th place in 2013 Division One
 Nigeria 5th place in 2013 Division One
 Tanzania Champion of 2014 Division Two

Preparation

Botswana, coached by Obert Musiyamhanje, held two separate training camps, one in the north of the country, in Francistown, and another in the south, in the capital Gaborone. At least three of the players named in the 24-man squad for the championship have already represented the Botswanan senior side.[5]

Four teams – Kenya A, Kenya B, Tanzania, and Uganda – played a series of friendly matches in December 2014, in Nairobi, Kenya.[2] Tanzania, coached by a former captain of the senior national side, Hamisi Abdallah, subsequently participated in a two-month training camp at the Muhimbili Cricket Academy in Dar es Salaam.[6] The Kenyan side, coached by former ODI player Thomas Odoyo, held a training camp at the Sir Ali Muslim Club Ground, Nairobi, in early February 2015.[1]

Namibia, the winner of the 2013 tournament, prepared for the 2015 edition by playing a three-match one-day series against Zimbabwe. The matches were played in Harare in early February 2015, all at the Old Hararians ground.[7] Coached by Zimbabwean Norbert Manyande, Namibia had early undertaken a brief two-day training camp at the Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek.[8] Their squad includes at least two players from the previous 2014 World Cup.[9]

Fixtures

Matches were played at the Annadil Burhani, University of Dar es Salaam and Dar es Salaam Gymkhana Club grounds.[10]

Points table

Team Pld W L T NR Pts NRR
 Namibia 5 4 1 0 0 8 +2.201
 Uganda 5 3 2 0 0 6 +0.684
 Kenya 5 3 2 0 0 6 +0.133
 Tanzania 5 2 3 0 0 4 –0.595
 Nigeria 5 2 3 0 0 4 –0.938
 Botswana 5 1 4 0 0 2 –1.669

Source: CricketArchive

Statistics

Most runs

The top five runscorers are included in this table, ranked by runs scored and then by batting average.

Player Team Runs Inns Avg Highest 100s 50s
Zane Green  Namibia 271 5 67.75 155* 1 1
Sybrand Loftie-Eaton  Namibia 204 5 51.00 80 0 2
Jurgen Linde  Namibia 120 4 30.00 73 0 1
Gurdeep Singh  Kenya 108 5 21.60 49 0 0
Mias Strauss  Namibia 103 5 25.75 55* 0 1

Source: CricketArchive

Most wickets

The top five wicket takers are listed in this table, ranked by wickets taken and then by bowling average.

Player Team Overs Wkts Ave SR Econ BBI
Snehil Gajparia  Kenya 45.0 13 6.92 20.76 2.00 5/15
Paramveer Singh  Kenya 44.3 12 8.25 22.25 2.22 4/16
Raahil Krishna  Tanzania 48.0 11 9.09 26.18 2.08 4/17
David Wabwire  Uganda 25.0 10 7.20 15.00 2.88 7/11
Juma Mohamedi  Tanzania 34.0 10 10.70 20.40 3.14 4/20

Source: CricketArchive

References

  1. ^ a b Dun Okinyo (5 February 2015). "Kenya junior team up training ahead of under-19 qualifiers in Dar" – The Star. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b (24 December 2014). "Dar cricketers set sights on ICC-Africa W.Cup qualifiers" – The Citizen. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  3. ^ ICC Africa Under-19 Division One Championship 2013 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  4. ^ ICC Africa Under-19 Division Two Championship 2014 – CricketArchive. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  5. ^ (22 January 2015). "Under-19 cricket team gears for qualifiers" – Mmegi. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  6. ^ Suleiman Jongo (29 December 2014). "CRICKET: Cricketers in camp for Africa Cup" – The Citizen. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  7. ^ Brighton Zhawi (3 February 2015). "Zim U19 cricket set to host Namibia" Archived 2015-02-05 at archive.today – The Sunday Mail. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  8. ^ (3 February 2015). "Young Eagles gear up for World Cup qualifiers" – Namibian Sun. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  9. ^ "Namibia U-19's Aim for World Cup" – The Namibian. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  10. ^ "Dar cricketers in high spirits as World Cup qualifiers loom" – The Citizen. Retrieved 5 February 2015.