​ SA’s Maphaka player of the tournament as U19 Aussies celebrate win

As the Australians celebrated their fourth ICC U19 World Cup victory, young Proteas paceman Kwena Maphaka was announced as player of the tournament.

The left-arm fast bowler claimed 21 scalps in the tournament, just one short of the all-time record.

“That really means a lot,” he said. “I’ve put in a lot of work for this and I’m really happy that I could come out and have a good tournament. Unfortunately I couldn’t take the team to the final (SA were beaten by India in the semifinals) but happy I could play well.”

Aussie skipper Hugh Weibgen was understandably delighted by the win. “It’s unbelievable. I am so proud of this group of boys and the coaches. A lot of work has gone in over the last few months. India are obviously a class side. They dominated the tournament, but they were on the wrong side of the result today.”

Speaking about his fast bowlers, Weibgen said: “As a unit they work so well together. They know their roles; they know their jobs. I’ll be very surprised if the four of them don’t go a long way.”

One of the four, Mahli Beardman with figures of 3/15 in seven overs, was made player of the match. He said: “It’s pretty surreal; it hasn’t fully set in yet. But it’s something we’ve been working towards for a long, long time so the hard work has paid off. “

On India he said: “They’ve been incredible and we knew it was going to be a hard battle. As for me, I just wanted to use my short balls and hit the top of off. I’ve been thinking about my bowling, my field settings and working on the mental side.”

He added that it had been a pleasure working and playing with the "cartel" of Aussie pace bowlers.