New Zealand and South Africa get shots at redemption at ICC U/19 CWC

New Zealand and South Africa, the two ICC Full Members that failed to reach the Super League stage at the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup (ICC U/19 CWC) in Sri Lanka, get their shots at redemption when the Plate Championship gets under way on Tuesday.

For both teams the competition - which involves the eight sides that failed to finish in the top two places in their groups - is a chance to return home with silverware after earlier disappointments.

New Zealand will be especially keen to do just that after defeats against Bangladesh and Pakistan meant they failed to reach the Super League for the first time ever.

"I hope we can refocus," said coach Dipak Patel. "The players are here to learn about playing in these conditions and we will be getting their heads together for the next challenge."

That challenge will come in the shape of Ireland, one of six Associate sides in the Plate Championship, and they will be no pushovers.

The European side may have finished bottom of Group D but they came within a boundary of beating Super League semi-finalists England and reached the Plate Championship semi-finals in the last ICC U/19 CWC, in Bangladesh in 2004.

They can boast Eoin Morgan, the left-hander who plays county cricket in England for Middlesex, and also seam bowler Niall McDarby, whose 6-50 against England is the best bowling figures of the tournament so far.

South Africa, who finished third in Group B after a solitary win against the United States of America (USA) set against defeats to Australia and the West Indies, will also be looking for consolation over the next few days.

They took part in the Plate Championship the last time the tournament was staged in Sri Lanka, in 2000, after their three group games were all washed out, but they overcame that disappointment to win the event and will be looking for the same result this time around.

Their quarter-final opponents are Scotland who, after starting promisingly by giving Sri Lanka a major scare in their opening group match, fell away to heavy defeats against India and Namibia.

Their batting has been a major let-down so far with the notable exception of captain Kasaim Farid and they will be sweating on the fitness of pace bowler Gordon Goudie, who missed the loss to Namibia with a back injury.

The other two quarter-finals are all Associate affairs with Namibia facing the USA while Nepal come up against Uganda.

Nepal came mighty close to reaching the Super League as they had chances to beat both Zimbabwe and England before they eventually secured a win over Ireland.

Coach Roy Dias would have settled for a place among the top eight sides but also feels his players will get more benefit from taking part in the Plate Championship.

"It would have been nice to be in the Super League but it would have been much stronger, maybe too strong for us," he said.

"As it is, it is nice to play in the Plate because these sides are more equal to us and I am very happy that we beat Ireland because that meant we finished third in the group and drew Uganda.

"Maybe we can get to the semi-finals but we will go on and do our best to win it."

For Uganda coach Sam Walusimbi, the Plate is another chance for his players to show what they can do after a disappointing campaign in the group stages against tough opponents in Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand.

"I am not sure if the chaps were overwhelmed by playing Test teams," said Walusimbi.

"They have confidence against lower teams but that tends to wither against the Test sides and it is something we have talked about with them."

Namibia's seven-wicket win over Scotland in their last group match has seen them paired against the USA and the African side's coach Andy Waller was in confident mood after they achieved that win.

"We have that momentum and now we have belief and while we do not expect the USA to be a walk-over we will give them a real run for their money," said Waller.

"If we beat them we even believe we can test New Zealand but we will be taking each game as it comes," he added.

The USA coach Larry Gomes was also upbeat when asked about his side's prospects in the Plate Championship.

"I am encouraged by what I have seen and I think we should do well," he said. "We can take heart from our performances.

"We were in a tough group but we have competed reasonably well and we should have slightly easier games in the Plate but we do have to refocus now."

The Plate Championship quarter-finals are as follows (all matches are 10am starts):

QF 1 - New Zealand v Ireland at R.Premadasa Stadium *
QF 2 - Namibia v USA at Sinhalese Sports Club
QF 3 - Nepal v Uganda at P.Saravanamuttu Stadium
QF 4 - South Africa v Scotland at Nondescripts Cricket Club *

* These matches will be covered ball-by-ball on the tournament's official website:

Details of the other matches will be updated on a regular basis and all four matches will have comprehensive reports posted at the end of each innings as well as post-match reaction.

The Super League semi-finals take place on Wednesday (England v India) and Friday (Australia v Pakistan) with the final on Sunday 19 February. All three of these matches are day-night games at the R.Premadasa Stadium starting at 2.30pm.

Pakistan are the defending champions after winning the tournament in Bangladesh in 2004.