India vs New Zealand ICC Under 19 World Cup preview, Bloemfontein weather and Mangaung Oval pitch report

India play New Zealand in the ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup 2020 at ICC the Mangaung Oval Stadium in South Africa's Bloemfontein on Friday (January 24, 2020). While both India Under 19 and New Zealand Under 19 teams have qualified for the World Cup Super League quarter-finals, the winner of the match will top Group A.

The Group A winner will play the runner-up team of Group B which could be either England or Australia depending on the result of the former's match with Nigeria Under 19 team. West Indies have topped Group B winning all their three matches are in red-hot form while Australia are currently at number two.

The weather forecast for Bloemfontein is not too rosy with some sun in the morning following by cloudy skies. Thunderstorms are expected in the afternoon during the match while evening could also witness showers affecting the match. The day will be breezy too.

Mangaung Oval Stadium has seen 27 One Day Internationals with the team batting first winning 12 times and 14 matches have seen the chase being successful. One match has ended in a tie. The average score batting first is 241 indicating that the pitch is not a batting paradise if the bowlers are willing to use the conditions and try different permutations and combinations.

Indian bowlers have been in good form bowling out Sri Lanka as well as minnows Japan Under 19 teams much before 50 overs. The pace attack of Kartik Tyagi and Akash Singh have been ably supported by other bowlers particularly legspinner Ravi Bishnoi. With the twin wins India entered the World Cup Super League quarter-finals easily.

New Zealand's first match against Japan was rained out which meant they had to win against Sri Lanka to stay alive in the tournament. The Kiwi colts edged out Sri Lanka in the final over to book their place in the last eight of the tournament. Now, they face India in a match which will decide the winner of Group A.

India U19 Squad: Priyam Garg (captain), Atharva Ankolekar, Ravi Bishnoi, Dhruv Chand Jurel (wicketkeeper), Shubhang Hegde, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kumar Kushagra, Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil, Shashwat Rawat, Divyansh Saxena, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Tilak Varma, Siddhesh Veer

New Zealand U19 Squad: Jesse Tashkoff (captain), Adithya Ashok, Kristian Clarke, Hayden Dickson, Joey Field, David Hancock, Simon Keene, Fergus Lellman, Nick Lidstone, Rhys Mariu, Will O'Rourke, Ben Pomare (wicketkeeper), Quinn Sunde, Beckham Wheeler-Greenall, Oli White