Group C Round Up
Apart from New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Canada are the three teams who make up Group C of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup.
Sri Lanka has been preparing for the tournament for some time with a most recent tour to Australia in October on which it won the five-match ODI series 3-2 and the tri-series win against Bangladesh and Pakistan at home earlier this December.
The side is being captained by all-rounder Chartura Peries and includes 13 members who were part of the last two series. The side will enter the World Cup off the back of a tri-series in South Africa against the Proteas U19 side and India U19s.
Runner-up in the 2000 tournament, Sri Lanka will be relying on right-arm fast bowler Charith Jayampathi to contribute the Peries' side good run of form.
Sri Lanka's key batsman comes in the form of Kithruwan Vithange who plays for domestic side for SSC and who scored an unbeaten on 75 in Sri Lanka's victory over Pakistan in the tri-series final in Colombo.
The third Full Member of the group is Zimbabwe who will be captained by Dylon Higgins who has been representing Zimbabwe at respective age group levels since he was 12. Higgins comes from a family of cricketers who have all played for Zimbabwe in its domestic competition.
The talented all-rounder currently plays for the Midwest Rhinos in Zimbabwe and will be assisted by vice-captain Peter 'PJ' Moor who is another high-performing all-rounder.
Moor has captained the Zimbabwe U16 side and was named Zimbabwe School's Cricketer of the Year this year. He also brings to the side experience of a World Cup having been part of the U19 squad that took part in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia in 2008.
Another player to watch within the Zimbabwe side is Gary Chirimuta who within two years of starting to play cricket aged 11, was representing Zimbabwe at age group level.
The 18-year-old right hand bat had previously captained the Zimbabwe U17 that toured South Africa, winning five out of six matches but the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup will be his first taste of the international stage.
Tinotenda Confidence Mutombodzi, affectionately known as Tino, was part of the Zimbabwe side that travelled to the 2008 ICC Cricket World Cup in Malaysia and finished second to Moor in the 2009 Zimbabwe School's Cricketer of the Year awards. The off-spinner is expected to be a key wicket-taker for the young Zimbabwe side in New Zealand.
Completely the Group C line up is Associate qualifier Canada who is being led by Rustam Bhatti who has previously represented the country in the ICC Intercontinental Cup.
The wicketkeeper will look to his all-rounder and vice-captain Haral Patel to provide assistance with both the bat and ball especially since the left-arm off-break has played ODI cricket for his country.
Canada coach Wilbert Plummer will also be relying on the likes of Nitish Kumar, Usman Limbada and Ruvindu Gunasekara to put runs on the board for the Associate while Maninder Aulakh and Zain Mahmood will be wanted to take as many scalps as possible.