Coach laments eight dropped catches in 228-run World Cup loss to Zimbabwe

THE Under-19 national men’s team lost their Cricket World Cup 50-over opener by 228 runs against Zimbabwe in the West Indies on Saturday.
Zimbabwe recorded 321 for nine wickets in their 50 overs while the Garamuts were all out for 93 from 35 overs.
“We dropped eight catches which hurt us in the end,” head coach Rodney Maha said.
“We created chances, but dropped catches that could have created big opportunities.
“Our best bowlers were Rasan Kevau (3/60 off 10 overs) and Christopher Kilapat (2/31 off four) and Junior Morea (2/62 off 10).”
All-rounder Kevau and right-arm fast bowler Morea led the bowling pace attack which saw the Garamuts taking out the first Zimbabwe batsman Steven Saul from a catch by Ryan Ani (4.5 over).
Ani’s catch boosted confidence of the Garamuts bowlers, but Rodney’s men were unsuccessful in their run chase.
Skipper Barnabas Maha was primed to pair to up with right-hand batsman Christopher Kilapat to score some impressive runs after his performance in the warm-up matches but he was caught out before scoring any runs.
Barnabas said: “Our team struggled to chase a big total. We started slowly and then had run-outs which saw us fall short.”
The skipper said they made a lot of improvements in their batting and bowling, but the Garamuts were their own worst enemy, creating opportunities but not cashing in on them.
“If we made good use of those opportunities, we could have competed a bit better,” Barnabas said of the game against Zimbabwe.
“We were getting close to our targets, but dropped catches hurt us in our fielding.
“In our batting we were not rotating enough although this was the longest we’ve occupied the crease which I believe was an improvement.”
Rodney congratulated his squad on their World Cup opener, adding that they were looking forward to tomorrow’s match against Afghanistan.
“We want to raise the bar in the next game and get better,” he said.
“We will be looking to pick our best team to create opportunities.”