Preview: Kenya U19s v Namibia U19s

Kenya and Namibia will both be looking for their first victories in the 2018 ICC U19 CWC when they meet at Lincoln No.3. The winners will face either Ireland or PNG on Saturday, while the losers of each fixture will compete for 15th place on Sunday.

Form guide

Kenya's youngsters have found it tough going so far in the tournament, losing to South Africa by 169 runs, New Zealand by 243 runs and West Indies by 222 runs in a devilishly difficult Group A. Things went from bad to worse in their Plate quarter-final against Sri Lanka, when their opponents racked up 419/4 in a thumping 311-run victory – the joint second-biggest margin of victory in ICC U19 CWC history.

Namibia also only have four defeats to show for their efforts so far but the southern Africans have been more competitive. In their first Group C fixture against Bangladesh, a rain-affected 20-over dash, they suffered a disappointing 87-run defeat but their batsmen showed great spirit in their next match against England, scoring 196/9 from 50 overs before losing by eight wickets. They pushed Canada close in their final group match, eventually losing by four wickets after posting 193, and were then beating by seven wickets by Zimbabwe in the Plate quarter-finals.

Players to watch

**Abhishekh Chidambaran (Ken)**The 18-year-old leg-spinner was one of few Kenyan bowlers to emerge with any credit from the chastening defeat to Sri Lanka. Chidambaran, who is his country's joint-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with four scalps, took 2/68 from his 10 overs – impressive figures given the carnage inflicted on the rest of Kenya's attack.

**Petrus Burger (Nam)**Burger has gobbled up third wickets so far in the tournament, and proved the most parsimonious of Namibia's attack with an economy rate of just 4.54. The 18-year-old leg-spinner will be hoping to tie Kenya's faltering batting unit in knots.

World Cup history

Between 1998 and 2018, Kenya have played 19 matches at the ICC U19 CWC, winning five and losing 15.

Namibia are taking part in the tournament for the ninth time, having made their bow at the competition in 1998, when they finished 15th. They had never placed in the top 10 until 2016, when they pulled off one of the shocks of the tournament by beating neighbours South Africa which helped them finish second in Group A behind Bangladesh. Defeat by India in the quarter-final followed by victory against Nepal saw them claim seventh place and qualify automatically for this year’s competition as the highest-finishing Associate team at the tournament.

Head to head

Kenya and Namibia have only met once before at the ICC U19 CWC, with the former winning by 54 runs at the 2000 edition of the tournament in Sri Lanka. The star that day was the leg-spinning all-rounder Collins Obuya, who was a key weapon in Kenya's unexpected march to the semi-finals of the senior competition in 2003.

Forecast

A pleasant day is expected in Christchurch, with temperates as high as 29 degrees and only an outside chance of a rain shower.

Squads

**Kenya:**Sachin Bhudia (c), Maxwel Ager, Abhishekh Chidambaran, Aveet Desai, Jay Doshi, Aman Gandhi, Ankit Hirani, Jasraj Kundi, Jayant Mepani, Gerard Mwendwa, Dennis Musyoka, Thoma Ochieng, Sukhdeep Singh, Siddharth Vasudev, Rene Were

Namibia:Lohan Louwrens (c), Henry Brink, Petrus Burger, Jan-Izak de Villiers, Shaun Fouche, Jurgen Linde, Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Lottering, Erich van Mollendorf, Dewald Nell, Mauritius Ngupita, Ben Shikongo, Floris Steenkamp, Ramon Wilmot, Eben van Wyk