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Ahead of Zimbabwe’s match against Seychelles on October 19, here is a look back at some of the greatest mismatches in international cricket history.
Cricket’s expansion has led to global tournaments, which led to clashes between international teams of varying quality clashing against each other. The weaker teams have often put up a fight – or even pulled off an upset – but on most occasion, the gulf was too enormous to bridge.
The first World Cup across genders struggled to meet a reasonable count of teams. England, the hosts, fielded a second team – their own Under-25 team. Despite boasting of some future talents, Young England finished last, while the senior team won the title. The entire World Cup was played in a round-robin league format, so the two teams met. After captain Rachael Heyhoe Flint (114) took England to 231-6 in 60 overs, Young England had a revised target of 152 in 39. Never in the hunt, they finished on 102-7.
Denmark had played (and beaten the Netherlands) at the 1993 World Cup. They also beat Pakistan (do not go by the name: the women’s team were still new at that level) in 1997, but their bowling attack fell apart against Australia at the BKC in Bombay when Belinda Clark smashed 229 not out in 155 balls, the first ODI double-hundred in history to take Australia to 412-3. Denmark made only 49 in response, and that included 16 extras.
Also read: Why The Gambia forfeited their Men’s T20 World Cup qualifier against Rwanda
In 1998, the ICC claimed, relaunched, and expanded the Under-19 World Cup. Cricket facilities were scant at PNG, debutants of the tournament, at that time, and they arrived with “only two leather bags of cricket equipment between them”. The Gauteng cricketers arranged for four kits of cricket equipment.
They were obviously no match for the big guns in their same group. After Zimbabwe beat them by 147 runs, PNG folded for only 59 against the West Indies before Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga finished the game quickly. They did better to reach 139 against Australia, though not before conceding 398-6.
PNG’s withdrawal (TL;DR version: ten of their cricketers were caught shoplifting) led to Japan’s qualification for the 2020 Under-19 World Cup – in the same group as India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand. Japan got a point after rain played spoilsport in the New Zealand game, but were no match for Kartik Tyagi (3-10) and Ravi Bishnoi (4-5) as they folded for 41, and Yashasvi Jaiswal pulled off a quick chase. Against Sri Lanka, Japan fared little better: they made 43.
Pitted in the same group with three major teams at the same World Cup, Nigeria could not put a fight. Batting first, they made 61 against Australia and 58 against England, and lost both games comfortably. In between, they fielded first and conceded 303-8 against the West Indies – but made 57 themselves.
New Zealand had opted out of the 2022 Under-19 World Cup due to COVID-19. As a result, they had to play come through the EAP Qualifiers, where they played Japan, Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji, PNG, and Indonesia. In the five matches New Zealand batted first, they won by 162, 396, 339, 143, and 302 runs. In the other, they took 12.1 overs to chase. They stormed into the World Cup with a ridiculous net run rate of +5.366.
Of the African nations, South Africa, runners-up in 2024, qualified directly for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Namibia and Rwanda, who had played in 2024, will have to come through the Qualifiers, but they will gain automatic entry there. Twelfth-ranked Zimbabwe, on the other hand, have to play the sub-region qualifiers. Even if one discounts the 33rd-ranked Kenya, Zimbabwe still have to play Rwanda (63rd), Mozambique (64th), Seychelles (91st), and The Gambia (95th).
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