What a week it has been for us here in Christchurch. after losing our first match to the Australians, we needed to beat both the New Zealanders and the English to qualify for a place in the semi-final of the tournament.

Our midweek game against the Kiwis went very well and we managed to get a win against a team that perhaps seemed a little overconfident that they would progress to the next stage after beating England in their first match.

Our final superleague match against England then suddenly became the most important match of the tournament for us as we had to beat them to advance to the semifinals. This was a nail biting affair that swung like a pendulum as both teams battled to get control of the game. England needed to win the match with a bonus point and hope that the Australians beat the New Zealanders if they were to advance to the semi-finals.

They therefore had little choice but to chase our score ferociously from the start of their innings. this gave us a chance to force their batsmen to play high risk shots and allowed us to remove their top order batsmen at crucial stages of the game. Our victory came in the 41st over when Ryan Bailey ("Bails") bowled their last batsmen.

We had now qualified to play India in the first semifinal. This was to be the first match of the tournament to be televised live on the sky sports channel here in New Zealand. It was interesting to see our boys reaction to all the hype around this match and suddenly we realised again that we were playing in the world cup and had an opportunity to write the names of the squad in the history books.

On the morning of the game, tensions were running high in our dressing room and it was no surprise to see a few of our team making more than one visit to the toilet before we had even started our warm-up. This soon settled and we set about our task to take on the Indian bowlers. The hype that had been created by the presence of the television cameras, did not fail to provide us with some anxious moments as we now had the use of modern technology to assist the umpires with stumping and run-out decisions.

Despite all the excitement our boys excelled in this match and beat India by 112 runs. Davie Jacobs got the man of t he match and we were in the finals of the Under19 World Cup.

Christchurch is a beautiful city on the south island of New Zealand. It is situated on the eastern coastline, and stretches inland. It is surrounded by open countryside that is extremely flat despite the existence of a very scenic cluster of hills just east of the city. This region is also well known for the quality of the grapes that are grown here and the locals claim that the white wine produced in these parts is as good as any in the world!

Along with all the teams participating in the tournament we have been based at the Lincoln University campus which is also the home of the New Zealand cricket academy. This campus is about 20 to 25 minutes drive from Christchurch itself, so we have been a little isolated out here.

However, the prospect of having some free time during this last week while we prepare for the final on Saturday, 9 February is a luxury we did not have earlier in the tournament as we were always practicing when we were not playing. I expect that the entire team is looking forward to this and no doubt some of the more interesting sites of this region will be explored by all.

By the time I write my next postcard we will know if we are world champions or not, but for now we are savouring the victory that has taken us to the final.

Until next time, Shane Jabaar (fizzer)

© United Cricket Board of South Africa