India top seeded for 2002 jr World Cup

Defending champions India have been given the top billing in the next under-19 cricket World Cup to be held in New Zealand in January.

Sixteen teams will vie for honours in the third edition, which the New Zealand cricket board has agreed to host, according to a statement from New Zealand Cricket Inc. (NZC), the country's governing body.

The other participating countries, based on their seeding, are Sri Lanka, which lost the final to India in Colombo in January 2000, Pakistan, Australia, England, West Indies, New Zealand, South Africa, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Namibia and Scotland.

The International Cricket Council is yet to confirm three qualifiers from the Americas, Asia and east Asia/Pacific regions.

The teams have been split according to their final placing in the last World Cup.

India has been clubbed with South Africa, Bangladesh and the qualifiers from the Americas. Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Namibia are in one group, while Pakistan, England, and the qualifiers from Asia and East Asia/Pacific will make up another. Australia, West Indies, Scotland and Kenya are in another group.

The opening ceremony will be held at the Christchurch Convention Centre January 14 and the opening match will be played between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln, January 19.

Each team will play the other three teams in the pool. The top two teams from each pool move forward into the super league, which will be contested by two pools of four teams each. The top two teams in each pool go to the final series.

Indo-Asian News Service