SYLHET, Bangladesh: Pakistan U19 cruised to a six-wicket win with 111 balls to spare in their ICC U19 World Cup opener against Afghanistan U19 in Sylhet on Thursday.
Pakistan opted to bowl and it proved an excellent decision as leg-spinner Shadab Khan and seamer Hasan Mohsin ran through the Afghan batting line-up.
Shadab picked up 4 for 9 in five overs and Mohsin returned figures of 3 for 24. Only Tariq Stanikzai, who complied a 76-ball 53, was able to resist them as Afghanistan fell from 98 for 3 to 126 all-out.
In reply, Pakistan lost captain Gauhar Hafeez for 1, but Zeeshan Malik (29) and Mohammad Umar (25) helped them recover. Mohsin struck 28 off 36 as well to be named Man of the Match. Zia-ur-Rehman picked up two wickets, while Rashid Khan, who has already represented Afghanistan on the international stage, claimed one victim.
Meanwhile, Nepal U19 pulled off a dramatic 32-run win over New Zealand U19 in a thrilling encounter in Fatullah.
Nepal posted a total of 238 and then defended it by bowling New Zealand out for 206. Nepal have a win-loss record of 11-3, while defending totals of 150 or more. Five of those wins have come against Full Members.
Things had looked dicey for Nepal when they were 68 for 3 after winning the toss and batting first. Captain Raju Rijal (48) and Aarif Sheikh (39) added 61 to bring the innings back on track. Some handy middle-order contributions, including a 23-ball 35 from Kushal Bhurtel helped Nepal to a competitive total. Fast bowler Nathan Smith picked up three wickets but went for 58 runs in his 10 overs.
After a middling start in the chase, Glenn Phillips (52) and Josh Finnie (37) strung together a 72-run stand. However, both men fell in quick succession and soon the innings itself threatened to fall apart.
Dale Phillips did his best with 41 off 50 balls, and along with Smith brought the equation down from 95 off 60 to 41 off 24. Medium-pacer Dipendra Singh Airee then swung the game decisively in Nepal’s favour with a double strike.
A couple of half-centuries from Sarfaraz Khan and Washington Sundar helped India U19 overcome a dodgy start and beat Ireland U19 by 79 runs and record their 11th win on the trot.
Joshua Little, who earned praise from his captain Jack Tector for the amount of pace he generated, picked up 3 for 52 and fellow seamer Rory Anders with 3 for 35 had dragged India down to 55 for 4. Ireland had opted to bowl and would have felt that decision was vindicated until Sarfaraz and Washington put on 110 runs in 104 balls to swing the momentum back in India’s favour.
Sarfaraz struck 74 runs off 70 balls with seven fours, but his skill was in manipulating the field and securing ones and twos. Washington, who now has six fifties in seven matches, pushed India past 200 and Zeeshan Ansari’s run-a-ball 36 took the total to a formidable 268.
Ireland’s chase was bogged down by too many dot balls and not enough urgency from their batsmen. The times when they did try to make something out of nothing, India’s fielders made them pay. Ishan Kishan, who bagged a duck earlier, hit the stumps direct to run Stephen Doheny out in the third over and 10 balls later Armaan Jaffer followed suit and had Tector short of his ground.
Fast bowler Avesh Khan (10-1-24-2) hustled the batsmen with his pace and bounce while left-arm quick Khaleel Ahmed (9-1-36-1) was maintained a steadfast line of attack on off stump to lend proof to their captain’s Kishan’s words that India hand’t been nervous when their middle order collapsed because they had a skillful bowling attack. Among them was 16-year old legspinner Ansari, who has a googly and a flipper in his repertoire. Medium pacer Rahul Batham took the most wickets with 3 for 15.
Ireland were anchored by fifties from William McClintock (58 off 86) and Lorcan Tucker (57 off 89). Both batsmen displayed the aptitude for the big shots, but they weren’t able to sustain their hitting. They put on the highest partnership of the match - 113 off 151 balls - but faced a required rate of 8.89, which had to be maintained over 18 overs. Both men fell in the final 10 overs and Ireland were all out in the 50th overs.