USA secure qualification for 2024 U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup with victory at Americas Qualifier

Ontario, Aug 19 (IANS) The United States of America (USA) have booked their place in the 2024 U19 Men's Cricket World Cup with an impressive victory over Canada in a rain-affected winner-takes-all matchup in the Americas Qualifiers.

With the win, the USA have sealed the 16th and final qualification spot at next year’s U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup. At the Maple Leaf Cricket Club in King City, Ontario, USA and Canada knew that a win for either of them would see them book their tickets for the tournament in Sri Lanka in January 2024.

Canada led the standings before Friday’s play, enjoying an unbeaten campaign which involved a close-fought victory over the same opposition earlier in the week, but the seven-wicket triumph meant that the USA advanced by virtue of a higher net run rate.

The start for the all-important clash was delayed by heavy rain the previous night and despite the other fixture in the group being abandoned, play went ahead with the match eventually reduced to 22 overs per side as more rain fell during the match.

Batting first in difficult conditions, Canada were reduced to 15 for three within the first six overs. After a brief recovery by Canada, the USA bowlers once more found joy, eventually restricting the home side to a modest 92 for nine from their allotted overs. While Yash Mondkar top-scored for Canada, Utkarsh Srivastava and Parth Patel did the damage for the USA with the ball, claiming two wickets for 16 and three for 17 respectively.

In reply, opener Prannav Chettipalayam led from the front, scoring a valuable 36 runs off 39 balls. Even though they lost wickets at the other end, and stuttered in the middle overs to 58 for three, Patel provided enough support with 25 not out to see the visitors over the line with four overs to spare as USA will now compete in U19 World Cup for the first time since 2010.

Speaking after the win, USA captain Rishi Ramesh expressed his delight on making it to the main tournament. “It’s a been a long journey for us in the USA and we’re finally here. We’ve made history and are proud to represent our country.”

The Americas Qualifier was the final event in the qualification pathway for the 2024 U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, and following its conclusion, the sixteen teams set to feature in Sri Lanka are confirmed as Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, USA, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

In just under five months, Sri Lanka will host the most talented young players on the planet for the first time since 2006, and all competing nations, including defending champions India, will have their sights firmly set on taking home the celebrated silverware over the course of 41 matches.
11 teams automatically qualified for the event as the best-placed Full Member nations from the previous event in 2022 - Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

The remaining five spots were determined through regional qualification pathways, with one team from each region securing a place at the event. 
The Asia, EAP and Africa qualification pathways concluded with Nepal, New Zealand and Namibia advancing from their respective regions. Last week, Scotland became the 15th confirmed nation before the USA advanced via the Americas Qualifier to complete the line-up.