South African fast bowler Kwena Maphaka has won the Player of the Tournament award for the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2024. He took maximum 21 wickets in 6 matches in the tournament played on home soil. He impressed a lot with his killer bowling.
Maphaka took five wickets in two matches and 6 wickets in one match. South Africa had lost to India in the semi-finals. Maphaka took 3 wickets for 32 runs against India.
Kwena Maphaka said after being named Player of the Tournament :-
“It’s very important for me,” 17-year-old Maphaka said after being named player of the tournament. I will remember about it. I worked a lot on my inswing, which helped me in the tournament. Very excited for the future. If I can play international cricket for South Africa, it would be amazing. A lot of hard work has to be done.”
Let us tell you that Maphaka made his debut in first class cricket in June 2023. He has taken 7 wickets in 2 first class matches. He has taken 6 dismissals in 5 professional T20 matches.
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Uday Saharan’s bat remained silent in the final against Australia:-
Saharan scored 397 runs in 7 matches. He played one century and three half-centuries. He was the highest run scorer in the tournament. However, Saharan’s bat remained silent in the final against Australia, in which he could score only 8 runs. India had to face defeat by 79 runs in the title match.
Before the final, ICC had released the list of shortlisted players for Player of the Tournament, in which apart from Maphaka, Saharan, Ubaid Shah (Pakistan), Saumya Pandey (India), Musheer Khan (India), Jewel Andrew (West Indies), Hugh Wiebgen (Australia) and Steve Stoke (South Africa) were also there.
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