Central Districts Under 19 rep AKHIL KUMAR has been named in the official tournament team at the 2020 ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup, selected as 12th man after an outstanding wicket haul after a thrilling four weeks in South Africa.

Representing Canada Under 19, Akhil was one of two CD U19 players in action at the just-concluded World tournament, alongside JOEY FIELD who had an excellent tournament with both bat and ball for Semi-Finalists New Zealand Under 19.

Quick Akhil took 16 wickets at a 15.37 average, finishing with figures of six for 46 in Canada's Plate playoff victory over Japan.

JOEY FIELD & KRISTIAN CLARKE HIT A RECORD 9TH STAND | ICC/GETTY

New Zealand Under 19's Kristian Clarke could be considered unlucky to miss out on the tournament XI, however, after breaking two tournament records including an all-time ninth wicket record stand with our own Joey Field that got New Zealand into its first Under 19 World Cup Semi-Final since the Kane Williamson generation in 2008.

New Zealand bumped out a strong West Indies team in that match and went through to meet Bangladesh in the Semi-Final, but couldn't get past the side that went on to beat defending champions India in the Final.

ICC/GETTY

New Zealand meanwhile had headed into a bronze medal game against Pakistan, but the game was rained off without a ball bowled. That meant New Zealand Under 19 officially finished a very good fourth, based on a countback of points in the initial Group stage.

Allrounder Joey finished with a batting average of 55 from four innings for New Zealand, behind only Clarke and Beckham Wheeler-Greenall; and took two wickets in the official phase of the tournament.

AKHIL KUMAR | ICC/Getty

ICC U19 Cricket World Cup team of the tournament (in batting order)

Yashasvi Jaiswal – India

Ibrahim Zadran – Afghanistan

Ravindu Rasantha – Sri Lanka

Mahmudul Hasan Joy – Bangladesh

Shahadat Hossain – Bangladesh

Nyeem Young – West Indies

Akbar Ali – Bangladesh (wicketkeeper, captain)

Shafiqullah Ghafari – Afghanistan

Ravi Bishnoi – India

Kartik Tyagi – India

Jayden Seales – West Indies       

12th man: Akil Kumar – Canada

Article added: Tuesday 11 February 2020