The first team to win through to the final of the Plate Championship in the ICC Under-19 World Cup is Zimbabwe.

It defended a score of 228 all out today at Lincoln No 3 near Christchurch against a capable Namibian side.

Man of the match Sean Ervine's 72 off 78 deliveries, which included a six hit onto an ice cream truck parked at the ground, set up Zimbabwe, after their two Test players, Tatenda Taibu and Hamilton Masakadza failed to convert promising starts.

The Steve Rhodes-coached side had been using Plan B - the solid start - after the early dismissal of Charles Coventry, a dashing right-handed opener, who has scored 250 runs in the competition.

Rhodes told CricInfo: "There were some disappointing efforts in the field, but we were always in a very comfortable position."

The former England test player continued, "I was particularly pleased with the way Sean Ervine and Stuart Matsikenyeri got us out of a hole at 86/4. But it was not one of our better fielding performances."

A prolonged stoppage for rain, which lasted from 11.15am to 1.30pm interrupted the Zimbabwean innings, and brought forward concerns that the game might have to have been finished tomorrow, when more poor weather is forecast.

Since the start of the tournament Namibian coach Werner Jeffrey's aim had been to win the Plate. He even confided that a loss against New Zealand in the group matches would be no bad thing, as his team had just beaten Sri Lanka, and the potential punishment of the Super League looked a possibility.

Jeffrey said after the game, "I think we'll get a hero's welcome when we return home. This was the first time we've ever won a match in the World Cup, and now we've won three. I'm a little bit unhappy we didn't make the final, but now we can go home and I feel very happy that we gave a fight today."

Zimbabwean paceman Waddington Mwayenga (three for 27) knocked the top off the Namibian order, to go second in the tournament's wicket-taking charts jointly with Taibu.

He had Namibia's leading runscorer, Stephan Swanepoel, caught at slip, squared up when pushing into the onside, then removed Hugo Ludik and Burton van Rooi, who walked, such was the obviousness of his lbw dismissal.

Left hand/right hand duo Michael Greeff and Johan Nel added 61 for the fourth wicket, but shortly after drinks they both fell in the space of three deliveries.

Masakadza and Taibu, who had been unable to dominate with the bat despite their international pedigrees, took their chance to bowl, with wicket-keeper Taibu passing the gloves to opener Coventry in order to do so.

Quickish off spinner Masakadza had seven wickets in the competition and made it nine when he firstly bowled Greeff, who was deceived in the flight and then Colin Steytler 10 balls later for a duck.

Bouncy medium pacer Taibu has 11 cheap wickets in the tournament, and made it 12 when he shifted Nel, appropriately enough caught by Masakadza, who took the uppish cut at backward point.

In truth this was one of the duller days at Lincoln. No spectators, poor weather, and a host of bored workers made for a drab atmosphere.

Nevertheless, the quality of Ervine's display and 15-year-old Brendon Taylor's batting as well as the potential of quick bowlers like Mwayenga and van Rooi illuminated some low-key cricket. The game was also played in an excellent spirit.

The teams had already met in the competition. Zimbabwe beat Namibia by nine wickets on January 20 in their group match at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, and has since won all its Plate Championship group games. Zimbabwe has also beaten Bangladesh in a previous match.

With the other Plate semi-final between Bangladesh and Nepal scheduled for Wednesday, Rhodes believes, "I'd probably say that we'd rather play Bangladesh since we've played them once already. Nepal, I don't know a thing about, but I know their coach Roy Dias has done a pretty good job with them and they could be a handful."

One thing is certain. Tough Yorkshireman Rhodes will give his players a rugged workout before they play the final on Friday.

© CricInfo