ICC U19 World Cup 2020: Group A, Match 3: New Zealand Under-19s vs Japan Under-19s: Dream11 Fantasy Cricket Tips – Playing XI, Pitch Report & Injury Update

Match Details:

The 3rd match of the 2020 ICC Under-19s World Cup, Group A will be played between New Zealand Under-19s and Japan Under-19s at the North-West University No1 Ground in Potchefstroom.

The match starts at 10:00 AM local time (1:30 PM IST) (8:00 AM GMT)

Preview:

New Zealand Under-19s have had a couple of interesting weeks coming into the tournament in South Africa. They were part of a Quadrangular series in which they finished at the bottom. They won only one of the four matches played in that tournament which was by 2 runs against Zimbabwe who collapsed from a winning position. New Zealand even lost the warm-up match against UAE but bounced back by defeating Bangladesh team which is one of the favourites to win the title. Their first match will be against Japan who will make their debut in Under-19s World Cup. They lost both their warm-up matches by a margin of 250+ runs.

Weather Condition/Report:

The North-West University in Potchefstroom is likely to be under the clouds on Saturday with spells of rain during the match.

Pitch Condition/Report:

Potchefstroom’s North-West University last hosted Youth ODIs in 1998 and List A matches more than 10 years ago. Hence, it will be difficult to judge how the pitch will behave on Saturday. The Provisional T20 matches hosted in the ongoing season witnessed 160+ totals from the sides batting first and the chasing teams did a decent job. If New Zealand bats first in this match, we can expect no less than a 300+ total.

Average first innings score: N/A (U19 Matches in 2020)

Record of chasing teams: N/A

Team News:

(Will be added when there is an update)

Probable Playing XIs:

New Zealand Under-19s:

Rhys Mariu, Oliver White, Fergus Lellman, Nicholas Lidstone, Beckham Wheeler-Greenall, Jesse Tashkoff (C), David Hancock, Quinn Sunde (WK), Adithya Ashok, Hayden Dickson, Joey Field

Bench – Simon Keene, William O’Rourke, Kristian Clarke, Ben Pomare.

Japan Under-19s:

Marcus Thurgate (C), Shu Noguchi, Neel Date, Debashish Sahoo, Kazumasa Takahashi, Kento Ota-Dobell, Ashley Thurgate, Max Clements, Yugandhar Retharekar, Masato Morita, Reiji Suto.

Bench – Tushar Chaturvedi, Sora Ichiki, Leon Mehlig, Ishaan Fartyal.

Top Picks:

Beckham Wheeler-Greenall can well be a surprise pick in the fantasy team for this all-round skills. He has aggregated 114 runs with a fifty and claimed four wickets across the three matches he played during the recent Quadrangular tournament. Yugandhar Retharekar has 8 wickets across three matches he played for the Japan U19s including a 5-wicket haul. He also took 3 wickets in the warm-up games amidst the team failures. Kazumasa Takahashi can well be considered as Japan’s best player as he aggregated 90 runs for them with help of a fifty and also bagged six wickets including a 4-wicket haul. In the warm-ups, however, he did not bowl an over and scored 32 runs. The hopes will be higher on New Zealand skipper Jesse Tashkoff who bagged 18 wickets and amassed 243 runs across the 18 Youth ODIs he played thus far.

Captain and Vice-Captain Selection:

Captain – Jesse Tashkoff, Fergus Lellman, Kazumasa Takahashi

Vice-Captain – Yugandhar Retharekar, Marcus Thurgate, Beckham Wheeler-Greenall

Suggested Playing XI No.1 for Fantasy Cricket:

Keeper – Marcus Thurgate (VC)

Batters – Rhys Mariu, Fergus Lellman, Reiji Suto

All-Rounders – Max Clements, Kazumasa Takahashi, Oliver White, Jesse Tashkoff (C)

Bowlers – Hayden Dickson, Joey Field, Yugandhar Retharekar

Suggested Playing XI No.2 for Fantasy Cricket:

Keeper – Marcus Thurgate

Batters – Beckham Wheeler-Greenall, Fergus Lellman (C), Reiji Suto

All-Rounders – Kazumasa Takahashi (VC), Max Clements, Adithya Ashok, Jesse Tashkoff

Bowlers – Yugandhar Retharekar, David Hancock, Joey Field

Expert Advice:

Japan Under-19s might be a weaker side considering their poor show in the warm-up matches. However, there is no point to prove New Zealand edge them on quality by a big margin. It is one of the reasons why picking five players from the Japan team won’t be a bad idea. Though Japan is expected to lose the game by a big margin, we can expect a couple of good individual performances from them.

Probable Winners:

New Zealand Under-19s are expected to win this match by a good margin.

*Disclaimer: This team is based on the understanding, analysis and instinct of the author. While selecting your team, consider the points mentioned and make your own decision.