By SHAMAOMA MUSONDA –

THE Zambian team has been declared ready ahead of the Pepsi 2014 International Cricket Council (ICC) Africa Under-19 Division-Two qualifying tournament that starts in Lusaka tomorrow.
Zambia Cricket Union (ZCU) president Reuben Chama said in an interview from Kitwe yesterday that the team has undergone adequate preparations in readiness for the competition that runs from August 9 to 19.
Chama expressed happiness with the team friendly match the youngsters played against senior Leopards Hill Cricket side in Lusaka ahead of the tournament has attracted participation from  Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Rwanda, Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania.
“The Zambian team is ready for the tournament seeing the way they performed against the senior team from Leopards Hill Cricket Club,” he said.
The Zambia Under-19 fell to a five-wicket loss but had some encouraging postings as they made 200 runs with opener Musonda Yambayamba scoring 41, Mario Nithyanath weighing in 35 runs, Tristan De Wet made 31.
Team captain Chetan Reddy had 30 runs in that game, same as Usher Simwinga.
Chama also expressed happiness at the organisation saying some teams had already started arriving for the continental tournament.
Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Ghana will be on Kenyan Airways while Swaziland are coming on South Africa Airways with Tanzania also expected today.
There will be ICC officials and umpires including referee Devdas Govindjee also jetting in today from countries like Namibia, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa and Botswana.
The ICC has given the ZCU $280,000 towards hosting of the tournament with the Sports Council of Zambia (SCZ) pumping in K45, 000, EC Mining K5, 000, Lusaka Hotel K10, 000, Magnum Security K10, 000 and Magic Advertising for identity cards.