Kenya U19 cricket team to begin World Cup qualifiers against formidable Tanzania

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CRICKET Kenya U19 cricket team to begin World Cup qualifiers against formidable Tanzania

Abigael Wafula 12:46 - 22.07.2023

The last time Kenya made an appearance at the World Cup was in 2018 when they finished a disappointing 15th.

Kenya men's cricket Under-19 team will be looking to make a return to the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup when they open their campaign in the qualifiers against hosts Tanzania on Sunday, July 23.

The 14-man squad left the country on Friday morning for the International Cricket Council U19 men’s World Cup Africa Division 1 qualifier and they will be hoping to come back home with good news.

The last time Kenya made an appearance at the World Cup was in 2018 where they finished a disappointing 15th and they will be hoping to make a comeback and qualify for the 2024 edition in Sri Lanka. Their best performance was during the 1998 edition when they finished 11th.

In a post on their Twitter page, Cricket Kenya wished the young squad success in their campaign. The post read: “We wish all the boys representing the country in the ICC U-19 Men's Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifier the very best of luck. The tournament bowls off from tomorrow up to 30th July 2023.

On day two of their campaign, July 25, the youngsters will clash with Sierra Leone before going up against Namibia in their third game. They will also lock horns with Uganda and Nigeria in their fourth and fifth games respectively. 

The team is under the tutelage of head coach Josphat Irungu and former Kenya international Peter Ongondo and they have their work cut out since the only team that will proceed to the World Cup has to top the table.

Meanwhile, 13 teams have already booked their tickets to Sri Lanka 2024, including Nepal and New Zealand, who joined the 11 automatically qualified nations by virtue of winning their respective regional qualifiers in Asia and EAP earlier this year.

The other 11 are Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, Sri Lanka, India, Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies, and Zimbabwe.

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