Preview: Canada U19s v Papua New Guinea U19s

The first of the Plate quarter-finals at the ICC U19 CWC will see Canada take on Papua New Guinea at Lincoln No.3 on Sunday. The Canadians have competed at various points, and have a win from the group stages. Papua New Guinea have not yet come close to a win.

Going into their last group match, Canada had a chance of making the Super League, but a massive defeat to England by 282 runs ended their hopes. Now they need to regroup for the Plate competition and they will fancy their chances against PNG.

Form guide

That victory for Canada came against Namibia at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval. Akash Gill was the star man for the Canadians, claiming 4/43 before scoring 52 from 67 balls as his team secured a four-wicket win. They lost their other two group games, against England and Bangladesh.

PNG go into the Plate Quarter-Final on the back of three crushing defeats. They made 95 all out against Zimbabwe and 64 all out against India, losing both of those games by 10 wickets. In their final group match they bowled first with Australia making 370/8 before they made 59 all out. Their first target against Canada will be passing 100 for the first time in the tournament.

Players to watch

**Arslan Khan (Can)**Khan is the leading run-scorer for Canada so far. He made 72 in that win over Namibia and he has 156 runs from his three matches in the competition, more than double that of any other Canadian player. As the No.3 batsman and the captain of the side, there will be big pressure on him to perform in this game.

**James Tau (PNG)**The best of the bowlers in the heavy defeat to Australia, Tau claimed 2/42 from his 10 overs, the only PNG bowler to go at under a run a ball. His left-arm seamers were hard to get away in that match and he will be hoping for further success against the Canadians.

World Cup history

This is Canada’s sixth appearance at the ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup. They have never made the quarter-finals, with a best finish of 11th in 2010, and second-from-last-place finishes every other time. They did manage to tie with Bangladesh in their very first tournament, and beat Zimbabwe during the 2010 competition.

This will be PNG’s eighth ICC U19 CWC appearance, with their most recent coming in 2014. But they have never made the quarter-finals, with a best finish of 12th in the 2008 and 2010 editions. The 2012 competition saw the first – and to date only – century made by a PNG batsman at this level, as Christopher Kent scored 105 not out against Afghanistan.

Head to head

These teams have met twice before, at the 2010 and 2014 ICC U19 Cricket World Cups. Canada have won both of those matches, but it was close. The first of the fixtures saw Canada win by two wickets with five balls to spare, while in the second they closed out an 11-run victory.

Forecast

It is going to be 23°C with a bit of cloud cover in Lincoln. It will be muggy, with 78% humidity and there is a 20% chance of rain.

Squads

**Canada:**Arslan Khan (c), Akash Gill, Ashtan DeoSammy, Emanuel Khokhar, Kavian Naress, Kevin Singh, Pranav Sharma, Randhir Sandhu, Krishen Samuel, Faisal Jamkhandi, Arshdeep Dhaliwal, Rishiv Joshi, Aran Pathmanathan, Pieter Pretorious, Rommel Shazad

PNG: Vagi Karaho (c), Sema Kamea, Eisa Eka, James Tau, Tau Toa Nou, Nou Rarua, Igo Mahuru, Simon Atai, Leke Morea, Kevau Tau, Heagi Toua, Daure Aiga, Ovia Sam, Sinaka Arua, Boge Arua