U-19 World Cup: Four Zimbabwe U-19 players test positive for Covid-19

Four Zimbabwe cricketers at the Under-19 World Cup tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, and are now self-isolating in the West Indies. Zimbabwe Cricket confirmed the positive results after PCR tests were administered, and said all players who tested positive were "well and asymptomatic".

They will be retested before they can join the rest of the squad in St Kitts and Nevis where Zimbabwe will face Canada and Bangladesh in the official warm-up matches scheduled for January 9 and 11. Their first World Cup game takes place against Afghanistan on January 16, with Pakistan and Papua New Guinea the other two sides in their group C.

The Zimbabwean squad took part in a four-match Under-19 series with their Irish counterparts which ended on Sunday, with Zimbabwe winning 3-1. Zimbabwe won the first three games before Ireland bounced back to triumph in the fourth.

The World Cup will see the top two teams from each of the four groups advance to the Super League, while the remaining teams feature in the Plate competition. Bangladesh are the defending champions, having beaten India in the final of the previous edition in 2020.

Zimbabwe squad: Emmanuel Bawa, Brian Bennett, David Bennett, Victor Chirwa, Ngcini Dube, Alex Falao, Tendekai Mataranyika, Tashinga Makoni, Connor Mitchell, Steven Saul, Matthew Schonken, Panashe Taruvinga, Matthew Welch, Rogan Wolhuter, Ngenyasha Zvinoera