Afghans stun Pakistan, Kiwis thrash Windies

Whangarei, January 13

Afghanistan’s five-wicket win over Pakistan and New Zealand’s eight-wicket victory against defending champions West Indies were the highlights of the opening day of the ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup. Opting to bat, Pakistan suffered early setbacks when Afghanistan captain Naveen-ul-Haq struck with the new ball to reduce the two-time champions to 23/2.  Opener Rohail Nazir and Ali Zaryab gathered 88 runs to put Pakistan’s innings back on track.  Nazir scored 81 runs while Zaryab made 30. But once the duo was dismissed, the other batsmen failed to consolidate. Medium-pacer Azmatullah Omarzai and spinner Qais Ahmad grabbed three wickets each as Afghanistan bowled out Pakistan for 188. 

In reply, riding on Darwish Rasool’s unbeaten 76 and Ikram Ali’s 46, Afghanistan chased down the target in the 48th over. In other matches, Bangladesh defeated Namibia by 87 runs while Zimbabwe crushed Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets. Both the matches were reduced to a 20-over affair due to rain. 

India open campaign today, take on Australia  

The second day of the World Cup will witness the much-anticipated battle between India and Australia. They are the two most successful teams in the U-19 World Cup, having won the tournament three times apiece. “We’ve been here a week now, played a couple of games. Everything has gone well, the preparation has been good,” said India skipper Prithvi Shaw. — Agencies

Brief scores

Pakistan: 188 in 47.4 overs (Rohail Nazir 81, Ali Zaryab 30; Azmatullah Omarzai 3/34, Qais Ahmad 3/38) ; Afghanistan: 194/5 in 47.3 overs (Darwish Rasool 76*, Ikram Ali 46; Hassan Khan 2/45) 

West Indies: 233/8 in 50 overs (Keagan Simmons 92*, Kimani Melius 78; Rachin Ravindra 3/30); New Zealand: 234/2 in 39.3 overs (Finn Allen 115*, Jakob Bhula 83).

Bangladesh: 190/4 in 20 overs (Mohammad Saif Hassan 84, Naim Sheikh 60); Namibia: 103/6 in 20 overs (Eben van Wyk 55*; Hasan Mahmud 2/12, Qazi Onik 2/14) 

Papua New Guinea: 95 in 20 overs (Igo Mahuru 26; Wesseley Madevere 3/19); Zimbabwe: 98/0 in 14 overs (Wesseley Madevere 53*, Gregory Dollar 48*)