Two-time winners Pakistan will play Scotland in their opening match of the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2020 at the University Oval, Potchefstroom on 19th January. The tournament schedule was announced on Thursday by the International Cricket Council.
Sixteen teams will be taking part in the 24-day tournament that runs from January 17 to February 9, 2020. The final will be played at Benoni's JP Marks Oval on 9 February.
Pakistan's second match will be against Zimbabwe at the Witrand Oval in Bloemfontein on Wednesday, 22 January. The third and final group match for Pakistan will be played on 24 January at the JP Marks Oval, where the Boys in Green will square-up against Bangladesh.
The top two teams from each of the four groups advance to the Super League while the remaining teams feature in the Plate Championship. The Super League stage will commence from Tuesday, 28 January. The top four teams from the Super League stage qualify for the semi-finals, with the winners competing for the title on Sunday, 9 February.
Pakistan won the 2004 and 2006 editions of the tournament held in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka respectively. Pakistan has also finished as runners-up in three editions.
Hassan Khan led Pakistan in the last edition of the tournament in New Zealand in 2018, where they were beaten by India in the semi-finals.
The tournament was first played in 1988. Since 1998, the event has been held once every two years. India have won the tournament four times, Australia have been winners thrice, England, South Africa and the West Indies have won the tournament once each besides Pakistan's two wins.
The top 11 full members in the last edition in New Zealand and the five regional champions, who have qualified for the event, will also play warm-up matches from 12-15 January in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Nigeria (Africa) make an appearance for the first time along with Japan (East Asia Pacific). They are joined by other regional qualifiers Canada (Americas), United Arab Emirates (Asia) and Scotland (Europe).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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