Afghanistan vs New Zealand CPI The U-19 World Cup match on Tuesday 23 January at Buffalo Park in east London came to a dramatic end. The young Kiwis finally held their nerve to claim a one-wicket victory against an enterprising Afghanistan team.
The Afghanistan U-19 team won the toss and opted to bat first. They were bowled out for a paltry 91 with Jamshid Zadran top-scoring with 22 runs off 32 balls. The next best score for Afghanistan was an unbeaten 10 by Arab Gul Momand.
For New Zealand, right-arm pacer Matt Rowe took 5/21, including two maidens. Ryan Tsourgas scored 2/33, Ewald Schreuder scored 2/15 and his skipper Oscar Jackson scored 1/23.
It was expected to be an easy chase for New Zealand, but the Afghans had something else in mind. They had a four-man rotating attack, all of whom took wickets. Allah Ghazanfar took three wickets, Khalil Ahmed and Arab Gul Momand took two each.
New Zealand win low-scoring thriller by 1 wicket against Afghanistan despite dramatic run
New Zealand were 90/8 in the 29th innings when Afghanistan captain Naseer Khan Maroofkhil ran out the batsman at the non-striker Ewald Schreuder’s end.
The batsman was standing just outside the crease when Khan, the captain, dismissed him. Earlier, this form of removal was called “Mankad”, but now the ICC has changed it to make it a normal execution.
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The New Zealand dressing room fell silent once the third umpire agreed with the decision. The players were incredulous at what they saw. It was a case where the question of sportsmanship was raised.
Rowe, who earlier took a fife with the ball, kept his cool to get the winning runs in the 29th over. Rowe scored the winning runs in the second ball just after Schreuder ran out.
This was Afghanistan U-19’s second consecutive defeat in the tournament. They lost the first game by 181 runs against Pakistan, who scored 284/9 with the bat. Afghanistan, in response, were bowled out for 109. In this match too they were bowled out for just 91. Therefore, batting seems to be a major concern for the U-19 team at the moment.
They will play their next match against the Nepal Under-19 team on January 26 at Buffalo Park, east London. They need to win the match to keep their World Cup hopes alive. A defeat will mean the end of the road for the young Asian team.
India lead Group A, England lead Group B, Australia lead Group C and New Zealand U-19 lead Group D at the moment. Each team has played at least one game each.
The 2024 U-19 World Cup began on January 19 in South Africa. India is the defending champion of the U-19 World Cup. They started their campaign with a win against Bangladesh. After scoring 251 for 7 on a challenging pitch at Mangaung Oval, India bowled Bangladesh for 167 to register a comprehensive victory. The team will face the U-19 teams of Ireland and the United States in their next two matches, on January 25 and 28 respectively.
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