The Junior Proteas made a big statement on Wednesday in their ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Super Sixes game against Zimbabwe in Potchefstroom.

South Africa beat Zimbabwe by 9 wickets at the JB Marks Oval to remain on track for a semi-finals berth.

The seamer, Kwena Maphaka, led the charge with the ball with 5/34 in 10 overs as Zimbabwe was bowled out for 102-runs in 29.2 overs.

Lhuan-dre Pretorius scored 53 not out and Steve Stolk scored 37 as South Africa chased down the target in 13.3 overs.

Maphaka said they haven’t quite played the complete game yet and they will save it for later in the tournament.

“We are very happy with the performances. But I don’t think we have had a complete game yet. This was close, but we’re saving it.

“Obviously, the net run-rate is at the back of our minds, but we mainly focus on playing the game, and that’s what we did today. With the ball, I just keep doing what has been working for me — get the inswingers right and luckily it worked for me today.”

On Friday the Junior Proteas will face Sri Lanka at the JB Marks Oval.

Oliver Peake - ICC

Over at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley, Australia, claimed a big win by beating England by 110-runs according to the DLS method.

The Aussies had a bat first and scored 266/6 in their 50 overs with the captain Hugh Weibgen leading the chard with the bat by scoring 120, while Harry Dixon scored 53.

Theo Wylie took 4/42 in his 10 overs, while Farhan Ahmed was brilliant with 0/24 in 10 overs.

The English were bowled out for just 104-runs in 16.5 overs with the only batter to trouble scorers being Charlie Allison with his knock of 26-runs.

Callum Vidler was the chief destroyer with the ball for Australia with 4/29 in 5 overs, while Raf MacMillan took 3/16 in 3 overs.

Weibgen, who was named as the player of the match, said in the big win against England they played as a team with each player knowing his exact role in the unit.

“We batted really well upfront with Dixon stepping up and I could carry on in the middle overs. I thought 266 was a good total.

“Everyone knows their role very well in the side. I think in the first couple of games, we went ahead of ourselves a little bit. Today we just gave ourselves a bit more time, starting off slow, knowing we could cash in at the end.

“Vidler is a superstar. He’ll go very far. It’s great to watch him in full flow.”

Sheikh Parvez Jibon - ICC

At the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein, Bangladesh beat Nepal by 5 wickets with 148 balls remaining.

Nepal had a bat first and were bowled out for 169-runs in 49.5 overs. Bishal Bikram KC scored 48-runs, while the captain Dev Khanal scored 35.

Rohanat Doullah Borson took 4/19 in 8.5 overs while Sheikh Paevez Jibon took 3/34 in his 10 overs.

Ariful Islam scored 59 not out and Jishan Alam scored 55 as the Junior Tigers reached their target in 25.2 overs.

Sohail Khan Zurmati - ICC

Meanwhile, in the 16th place playoff at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, Afghanistan beat the USA by 3 wickets.

In Thursday's only game, Namibia will be in action against Scotland at Willowmoore Park in a 16th place playoff.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport