ICC Under-19 World Cup 2018 Trophy © Getty Images
ICC Under-19 World Cup 2018 Trophy © Getty Images

The ICC Under-19 World Cup 2018 will go underway from January 13 in New Zealand. However, the warm-up matches will begin from January 8. A total of 16 teams are participating in the tournament. The 10 Full Members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) as of 2016 gained automatic qualification, while one spot was reserved for the highest-ranked Associate from the previous edition of the event, which was Namibia in the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2016.

The first U-19 World Cup was conducted in 1988 as Youth World Cup. The tournament returned to its present form after a gap of 10 years. India and Australia have won the title most number of times (3). Pakistan have won twice while South Africa, England and West Indies have won the title once.

As for the points system, this is how it will work. The 16 teams have been distributed in four groups, A,B,C and D and they will take on each other in three matches each in the group league. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super League quarterfinals while the bottom two from every group will play the Plate Championship quarterfinals. The winners of the Super League quarter-finals will qualify for the Super League Semi-finals and the winners of the same will meet in the final match.

Group A M W L T D NR P NRR
New Zealand U19 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 3.226
South Africa U19 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 2.45
Windies U19 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 -1.375
Kenya U19 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 -4.12

 

Group B M W L T D NR P NRR
India U19 3 3 0 0 0 0 6 3.93
Australia U19 3 2 1 0 0 0 4 2.721
Zimbabwe U19 3 1 2 0 0 0 2 -0.892
Papua New Guinea U19 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 -5.977

 

Group C M W L T D NR P NRR
England U19 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 3.278
Bangladesh U19 3 2 1 0 0 0 4 0.438
Canada U19 2 1 1 0 0 0 2 -0.277
Namibia U19 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 -2.689

 

Group D M W L T D NR P NRR
Pakistan U19 3 2 1 0 0 0 4 1.404
Afghanistan U19 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 0.574
Sri Lanka U19 3 1 2 0 0 0 2 -0.464
Ireland U19 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 -3.502

The points table was updated following Match No.20 for the ICC U-19 World Cup 2018.