Priority is to top the group in ICC U19 CWC: Ijaz Ahmed

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 17 (APP):Head coach Ijaz Ahmed on Friday said Pakistan team’s priority was to top the group and progress to the quarter-final and beyond in the ICC Under19 Cricket World Cup to be held in South Africa from January 17 to February 9.

Pakistan who are placed in Group C, play Scotland in their opening World Cup match on Sunday, January 19. Their second match is against Zimbabwe on Wednesday, January 22, followed by the third and final group match against Bangladesh on Friday, January 24. All three games would be played in Potchefstroom, said a press release issued here.

Pakistan team underwent a strenuous training and practice session at the North West University Sports Village after arriving in Potchefstroom.

“Our priority is to top our group and stay in the city as the team which finishes second would have to travel to Johannesburg. So we want to stay here, get totally familiarized with the conditions and progress to quarter-final and beyond in Potchefstroom,” he said.

Ijaz said we played our first warm-up game a day after we arrived in the country. I feel the bowlers were a bit stiff and wayward in that game. In the second match our bowlers Amir Khan, Tahir Hussain, Aamir Ali and Abbas bowled well, support bowlers Fahad and Qasim Akram also delivered and we won the game.

The team is on a high after convincing wins in the two warm-up games against Nigeria and Sri Lanka during their five-day stay in Pretoria. They start their ICC U19 Cricket World Cup campaign with a match against Scotland in the NWU Sports Village vicinity on Sunday 19 January.

“Our first game was against Nigeria and it was a straightforward game for us as we got them out for 109 runs. The batsmen were not challenged much and we called back opener Haider Ali after he had scored a quickfire 50. It was almost a 10-wicket win for us.”

“Our game against Sri Lanka challenged us but Fahad Munir played really well for us and we also called him back after he reached his 50. Mohammad Haris batted really well also besides Haider’s contribution at the top of the innings,” he said.

He said players have had a great camp at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and they have been working hard since we have landed in South Africa. “Now, the time to deliver has arrived,” he said.

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