ATG World Cup - Rising Heroes

[Wilted]

The ATG World Cup is about to become the ultimate stage for cricket’s rising stars. Normally, the tournament belongs to established champions, but this year the spotlight is on players under 23, all looking to make their mark on the game. One slip could end a campaign, but one brilliant performance could launch a career. Will India’s young talent take control? Could Pakistan’s pace attack or Afghanistan’s fearless flair steal the show? Or will an underdog nation rise from nowhere to claim the trophy? When potential meets pressure, anything can happen. By the end, one team of tomorrow’s greats will be holding the cup high for the world to see.

Format
12 teams will feature in this edition of the ATG World Cup. They will be split into two groups of six to form a Group Stage, seeded according to their results from the recent U19 World Cup. The top three teams from each group will progress to the Super Six stage, where they will play each other in a round-robin format. The top four teams will then face off in a sudden-death finals format.

Teams
For the first time in ATG World Cup history, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Afghanistan will feature in the tournament alongside the regular eight nations.

Group A	Played	Wins	Draw	NRR	Total	Group B	Played	Wins	Draw	NRR	Total
Australia						India
South Africa						Pakistan
England						Bangladesh
Sri Lanka						West Indies
Afghanistan						New Zealand
Zimbabwe						Ireland

Fixtures

Group A

AUS v ZIM

SA v AFG

ENG v SL

Group B

IND v IRE

PAK v NZ

BAN v WI

And with that, let the tournament begin!

[Wilted]

Game 1: Australia v Zimbabwe
Australia XI: C Connolly, S Konstas, C Kellaway, H Dixon, J Fraser-McGurk*, O Peake, L Shaw+, C Vidler, T Straker, J Nisbet, M Beardman
Zimbabwe XI: B Bennett*, A Naqvi, D Myers, E Bawa, T Marumani, M Welch, P Taruvinga, T Maposa, V Chirwa, A Falao, B James
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bowl.

Australia
J Fraser-McGurk 96(73), H Dixon 82(80)
A Falao 5-64, B Bennett 1-52

8-360 (50 overs)

Zimbabwe
T Marumani 59*(99), B Bennett 53(62)
T Straker 3-42, J Nisbet 2-28

201 (45.3 overs)

Australia won by 159 runs
Man of the Match: J Fraser McGurk

Falao delivered the first ball of the tournament to Connolly, who blocked it out with regulation defence. That was enough for Connolly to get his eye in as he launched the next ball into the stands for 6! Dixon raised his bat for the first 50 of the tournament, and captain McGurk was not far behind with his. In amongst some fireworks in the death overs, both Dixon and McGurk failed to convert, but a fiery cameo from Peake gave Australia a strong upper hand for the first innings despite a five-wicket haul from Falao.

It was Vidler who struck first, removing Naqvi in the early overs of the innings. The Zimbabwe batsmen then took a more cautious approach to avoid further wickets as the required run rate quickly rose above 8 runs per over. While the pressure was starting to affect most batsmen, Bennett stood tall and brought up a 50. His scoring rate lifted too, keeping the Zimbabweans in the game. Unfortunately, his efforts could not prolong the inevitable. The Australians had them bowled out for 201, giving the Aussies the perfect start to the tournament.

[Wilted]

Game 2: South Africa v Afghanistan
South Africa XI: L Pretorius+, J James, D Brevis*, G van Heerden, P James, K Lion-Cachet, M Boast, A Simelane, K Maphaka, T Luus, C Seleka
Afghanistan XI: R Hussan*, H Eisakhil, B Tarin, I Alam, H Durrani, R Zurmati, M Ishaq+, N Ahmad, N Zadran, A Ghazanfar, B Sami
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to field

South Africa
K Lion-Cachet 64(40), L Pretorius 44(52)
N Ahmad 3-62, A Ghazanfar 2-36

8-283 (50 overs)

Afghanistan
H Eiskhil 71(77), R Hussan 50(72)
T Luus 4-32, J James 2-34

South Africa won by 60 runs
Man of the Match: T Luus

The South African openers looked to build a huge target from the start, scoring 70 runs in the power play. Things took a turn once the Afghan spinners came on, and all of a sudden, the South Africans struggled to stay at the crease for any amount of time. It was up to Lion-Cachet, who stepped up to fight fire with fire. He blasted a fifty off just 28 balls and allowed South Africa to reach a respectable total of 283.

Fifties to both of the Afghan openers and a century partnership put Afghanistan in a strong position to chase down South Africa's total. Maphaka finally brought some relief by dismissing both openers in the first over of his second spell. He and Seleka managed to tie down the batsmen. Once the top order batsmen were dismissed, South Africa managed to expose the lack of depth in the Afghan lineup and managed to win comfortably in the end.

[Wilted]

Game 3: England v Sri Lanka
England XI: T Albert, J Bethell*, D Mousey, A Tribe, J Evison, J Rew+, C Allison, R Ahmed, F Ahmed, S Baker, J Hull
Sri Lanka XI: S Daniel, N Paranavithana, A Bandara, P Rathnayake*, C Wickramasinghe, L Abeysinghe, D Wellalage, W Sahan, T Mathew, V Lahiru, M Pathirana
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat

Sri Lanka
S Bandara 74(72), P Rathnayake 68(44)
S Baker 3-62, D Mousley 2-8

287 (44 overs)

England
D Mousley 71(58), T Albert 64(42)
M Pathirana 3-97, W Sahan 2-33

5-289 (40.5 overs)
Man of the Match: D Mousley

England won by 4 wickets

A solid 50 from Daniel had Sri Lanka in a solid position. That was until R Ahmed came on and picked up the dangerous Daniel. That brought Rathnayake and Bandara to the crease, who proceeded to pile on the runs. The runs flowed while the two batsmen were at the crease, but once they were dismissed, wickets tumbled.

The English openers put on 86 runs in the power play to reduce the required run rate to under 5 runs an over. Albert and Mousley both brought half-centuries in under 35 balls and quickly took the game away from the Sri Lankans. Sahan and Pathirana took a few wickets between them, but Rew raised his bat for 50, guiding England home for an easy win.

[Wilted]

Game 4: India v Ireland
India XI: A Mhatre, A Porel+, T Varma*, R Smaran, N Kumar Reddy, N Sindhu, A Kulkarni, S Dhas, R Bawa, M Yadav, A Singh
Ireland XI: G Roulston, T Tector, C De Freitas, B Calitz, J Dickson, C Carmichael*, S MacBeth, S Topping+, R Wilson, C Robertson, M Humphreys
India won the toss and elected to bat.

India
A Mhatre 124(112), T Varma 75(60)
M Humphreys 4-49, S MacBeth 4-72

9-322 (50 overs)

Ireland
J Dickson 84(68), T Tector 56(66)
N Sindhu 4-59, R Bawa 3-72

276 (45.5 overs)

India won by 46 runs
Man of the Match: A Mhatre

A convincing 75-run power play with no wickets and a 35-ball fifty from Porel put the young Indian team in a fantastic position early on. Porel was dismissed, but his opening partner went on to make a century. Despite the flurry of runs continuing, with Varma bringing up a 50 as well, MacBeth and Humphreys rattled through the middle order. A score of 322 would still be a tough score for the Irish to chase down.

Tector got the Irish chase off to a good start with a fifty and even made a solid partnership with Dickson to keep his team in the hunt for most of the game. It looked like Ireland was even going to pull off the upset before Sindhu took a hat-trick and put an end to any chances the Irish could pull off the chase. Even with 10 overs to go, Ireland needed a manageable 74 runs for victory. But with eight wickets down, they had very little hope.

[Wilted]

Game 5: Pakistan v New Zealand
Pakistan XI: H Nawaz, H Khan+, S Ayub*, Q Akram, M Khan, A Minhas, I Khan, J Khan, A Raza, N Shah, U Shah
New Zealand XI: C Heaphy+, M Boyle, L Stackpole, B Jacobs, S Janett, J Todd, M Abbas, Z Foulkes, C Paul, A Ashok, M Rowe
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.

Pakistan
H Nawaz 138(117), M Khan 104(84)
A Ashok 2-64, Z Foulkes 2-70

6-372 (50 overs)

New Zealand
C Heaphy 52(52), M Abbas 33(41)
A Raza 3-44, N Shah 3-55

253 (48.1 overs)

Pakistan won by 119 runs
Man of the Match: H Nawaz

Despite an early wicket from Foulkes and some very tight bowling from Paul, Nawaz got off to an explosive start and put Pakistan's stamp on the match early. Nawaz's fifty came from just 34 balls. Nawaz was still going strong a few wickets later when M Khan came to the crease, and he too brought up a rapid half-century. The pair cruised to a 100 partnership, which included Nawaz bringing up his own ton. It was Ashok who finally broke the partnership that had skyrocketed to 178 by dismissing Nawaz. Shortly after, Ashok had M Khan trapped in front for 104. Unfortunately for the Kiwis, that didn't stop the onslaught of runs. I Khan and J Khan put on 72 runs in the last six overs of the innings. New Zealand will need some serious firepower to chase down 372 runs.

A cautious start to the race put New Zealand well behind from the very beginning of the chase. Two early wickets and some difficult-to-play bowling from the Pakistani openers put the required run rate above 8 runs per over at the end of the power play. Heaphy started to play his strokes a bit more freely and brought up a fifty, but went out the very next over. A fifty from Jacobs was the last moment of significance for New Zealand as Pakistan shared the wickets in their huge win.

[Wilted]

Game 6: Bangladesh vs West Indies
Bangladesh XI: P Hossain+, J Alam, S Hossain, A Islam, T Islam, A Amin, M Rahman*, T Hasan Sakib, R Mondol, R Hasan, N Rana
West Indies XI: M Nandu, T Bishop, S Parris, J Andrew*, K Wickham, C Bowen-Tuckett+, M Forde, J Layne, I Thorne, J Blades, M Clarke
Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat.

Bangladesh
A Amin 117*(150), R Hasan 38(40)
J Layne 4-49, I Thorne 4-83

8-296 (50 overs)

West Indies
S Parris 51(72), K Wickham 50(63)
N Rana 4-54, R Mondol 3-40

226 (46 overs)

Bangladesh won by 70 runs
Man of the Match: A Amin

Thorne quickly took control of the game by removing both openers. Thorne and Layne continued to pepper the Bangladesh batsmen and had four wickets each at the halfway point of the innings. At 8-170, it looked like Bangladesh would not be able to post a competitive total. That was when Amin and Hasan dug their heels in. Amin faced the majority of the deliveries in their unbeaten partnership, reaching 100 in about 140 balls. Hasan on the other hand, was happy to rotate strike for the rest of the match. In the end, Bangladesh reached a total of 296 with an unbeaten 9th wicket partnership of 126.

Unfortunately for the West Indians, Rana dismissed both openers in rapid succession at the start of the chase. Thankfully, Parris and Andrew found a groove to get them through the rest of the power play and start building a solid partnership. The pair put on almost 100 runs together, which included a fifty for Parris, but they didn't exactly score at a fast pace before both set batsmen were dismissed. At the halfway point of the chase, West Indies still needed 190 runs for victory. The batsman started playing riskier shots to compensate for the run rate, but that ultimately led to them being dismissed well short of their target.

[Wilted]

Round 1 Results

Group A

AUS def ZIM by 159 runs

SA def AFG 60 runs

ENG def SL 4 wickets

Group B

IND def IRE by 46 runs

PAK def NZ by 119 runs

BAN def WI by 70

Current Standings

Group A	Played	Wins	Draw	NRR	Total
Australia	1	1		3.18	2
England	1	1		1.34	2
South Africa	1	1		1.20	2
Afghanistan	1	0		-1.20	0
Sri Lanka	1	0		-1.34	0
Zimbabwe	1	0		-3.18	0

Group B	Played	Wins	Draw	NRR	Total
Pakistan	1	1		2.34	2
Bangladesh	1	1		1.40	2
India	1	1		0.92	2
Ireland	1			-0.92	0
West Indies	1			-1.40	0
New Zealand	1			-2.38	0

Tournament Stat Leaders

Batter	Runs	Bowler	Wickets
H Nawaz (PAK)	138	A Falao (ZIM)	5
A Mhatre (IND)	124	T Luus (SA)	4
A Amin (BAN)	117	M Humphreys (IRE)	4
M Khan (PAK)	104	J Layne (WI)	4
J Fraser-McGurk	96	N Rana (BAN) +3 others	4

Round 2 Fixture

Group A

AUS v SA

AFG v ENG

SL v ZIM

Group B

IND v PAK

NZ v BAN

WI v IRE

[Wilted]

Game 6: Australia vs South Africa
Australia XI: C Connolly, S Konstas, C Kellaway, H Dixon, J Fraser-McGurk*, O Peake, L Shaw+, C Vidler, T Straker, J Nibet, M Beardman
South Africa XI: L Pretorius+, M Prince, D Brevis*, G van Heerden, K Lion-Cachet, S Victor, J James, A Similane, C Seleka, K Maphaka, T Luus
South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first

South Africa
L Pretorius 126(111), M Prince 66(91)
J Nisbet 4-50, C Connolly 3-64

281 (49.4 overs)

Australia
C Connolly 106(105), H Dixon 93(92)
T Luus 1-37, K Maphaka 1-46

3-282 (43.3 overs)

Australia won by 7 wickets
Man of the Match: C Connolly

A flat deck meant the South Africa openers could make runs with ease. Their partnership grew to 121 but it did take half of the innings. Even though Connolly broke the partnership, Pretorius went on to make a century and increase the run rate while he was at it. South Africa looked to be cruising to a large total but lost eight wickets in the final eight overs thanks to Vidler and Nisbet.

A blistering start by Konstas and Connolly gave Australia an early foothold on the match. They set up the chase with 87 runs in the power play for only the loss of one wicket. A century from Connolly and a fifty from Dixon allowed Australia to cruise home. Connolly fell just before Dixon hit the winning runs.

[Wilted]

Game 7: Afghanistan vs England
Afghanistan XI: R Hussan*, H Eisakhil, B Tarin, I Alam, H Durrani, R Zurmati, M Ishaq+, A Wasi, N Ahmad, N Zadran, A Ghazanfar
England XI**: B McKinney, A Tribe, T Prest, J Bethell*, J Rew+, M Hurst, R Ahmed, B Kellaway, L Benkenstein, S Baker, J Hull. **The 15-man England squad has been updated due age restrictions.
Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bowl.

England
A Tribe 54(44), R Ahmed 37*(55)
A Ghazanfar 5-48, 2-42

207 (45.2 overs)

Afghanistan
H Eisakhil 99*(90), H Durrani 31(27)
S Baker 3-73, R Ahmed 1-37

5-209 (32.5 overs)

Afghanistan won by 5 wickets
Man of the Match: H Eisakhil

The English top order cautiously saw out the power play with just the one wicket lost. The only batsman to show any confidence early in the match was Tribe until Wasi had him caught behind for 54 off just 44 deliveries. An all-out spin attack stifled any progress in the middle overs, especially since seven wickets fell to consecutive overs of spin. Five of those wickets were taken by Ghazanfar. None of the main English batsmen stuck around to the end of the innings, and the Afghan quicks quickly ran through the remaining tail order.

Despite needing to chase a total on the lower end, Afghanistan came out of the blocks looking to wrap up the match in very little time. After the opening power play concluded, they had already knocked off over 70 of the required runs. There was a bit of a scare when Baker took a few quick wickets to rattle the middle-order, but Eiskhil took control of the match to finish it in style. He scored the winning runs with a 4, leaving him unbeaten on an agonising 99.

[Wilted]

Game 8: Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe
Sri Lanka XI: S Daniel, D Sigera, N Pranavithana, A Bandara, L Abeysinghe, P Rathnayake+, C Wickramasinghe, D Wellage*, W Sahan, T Mathew, M Pathirana
Zimbabwe XI: B Bennett*, T Marumani, A Naqvi, E Bawa, M Welch, P Taruvinga, D Myers, A Kamuiwo, T Maposa, A Falao, B James
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat.

Zimbabwe
B Bennett 68(73), E Bawa 40(50)
W Sahan 3-52, M Pathirana 3-62

257 (48.1 overs)

Sri Lanka
A Bandara 71(69), L Abeysinghe 40(47)
A Falao 3-43, A Kamuriwo 3-52

254 (47.5 overs)

Zimbabwe won by 3 runs
Man of the Match: B Bennett

A cruisy start from Bennett got Zimbabwe off to a good start despite Marumani being completely stifled down one end. Bennet passed 50, but Marumani was struggling to get going with just 13 runs off 45 balls. It took Sri Lanka over 20 overs to finally get their first breakthrough when Mathew had Bennet caught and bowled off a leading edge. Saha picked up two quick wickets after that initial break and from there, the Zimbabwe batsmen struggled to find a foothold. A few streaky boundaries from James at number 11 helped Zimbabwe limp their way to 257 runs.

Maposa and Falao picked up a pair of early wickets to put pressure on the Sri Lankans immediately. Bandara came out and dominated the Zimbabwean bowlers, peeling off a 50 in a short amount of time. There were some cameo innings in the middle order but with wickets at regular intervals, the Zimbabweans looked like they could pull off an upset. Sri Lanka needed just 40 runs off the final 10 overs, and Zimbabwe only required three wickets. Two wickets fell in quick succession but it was Mathew and Pathirna who put on a gritty 25-run partnership to bring the game down to the wire. In the end, it was Kamuriwo who picked up the final wicket to give Zimbabwe a narrow three-run victory.

[Wilted]

Game 10: India vs Pakistan There were two Game 6s above
India XI: A Mhatre, A Porel+, T Varma*, R Smaran, S Dhas, V Suryavanshi, N Kumar Reddy, N Sindhu, R Bawa, M Yadav, A Singh
Pakistan XI: H Nawaz, H Khan+, S Ayub*, Q Akram, M Khan, I Khan, A Minhas, J Khan, A Raza, N Shah, F Akram
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat

Pakistan
I Khan 65(69), H Nawaz 59(65)
R Bawa 4-70, N Sindhu 2-49

277 (50 overs)

India
T Varma 84(83), A Mhatre 74(49)
F Akram 3-24, A Minhas 2-44

8-278 (45.3 overs)

India won by 2 wickets
Man of the Match: R Bawa

An early 50-run partnership was broken by Kumar Reddy when he had H Khan caught in the slips. Nawaz and Ayub came together to put on another 50-run partnership in return, including a half-century from Nawaz. The balance shifted again with a couple of quick wickets from Sindhu, bringing two new batsmen to the crease. Akram and I Khan (no, not that Akram and I Khan) breathed life back into the Pakistan innings with some solid attacking shots, but a late flurry of wickets from Bawa had Pakistan all out for 277 on the last ball.

The chase could not have gotten off to a worse start for India when Shah bowled Porel for a golden duck. Thankfully, Mhatre advanced his opening partner with a blistering fifty off 32 balls to put the Indians ahead in the chase. Varma brought up a fifty of his own not long after, and India were cruising for a comfortable victory. The fireworks stopped when Raza dismissed Mhatre, but India continued to chip away at the runs required. Akram came into the attack and took a couple of quick wickets in a single over, and the 50 runs required for India to win looked a little uncertain with just four wickets in the shed. A couple more wickets did fall, but India managed to hang on to win by two wickets after a late scare.