Afghanistan qualify for 2018 Under-19 World cup with a thumping victory

The 2018 Under-19 World Cup will be contested between sixteen teams, eleven of which qualified automatically. The other five spots were to be determined by a qualifier round which was hosted by Singapore. Tournament’s last encounter was played between two Asian countries, Afghanistan and Nepal which turned out to be a low scoring game but one would have to say, Afghanistan had too much fire power and managed to upstage Nepal by 96 runs.

199 runs turned out to be a mammoth score

It was Afghanistan’s skipper, Naveen Ul Haq who won the toss and decided to bat first. In walked opening pair Naveed Obaid and Ibrahim Zadran who provided a decent start to Afghanistan and managed to put up a partnership of 36 runs before Obaid got out for 22 runs off 33 deliveries which was laced with two fours and a maximum.

Middle order couldn’t show any resistance, which eventually led Afghanistan four down for mere 80 runs. On the other hand, Ibrahim Zadaran played exceptionally well for his 101 runs and helped his side to reach a respectable total. Nepal’s frontline bowler, Shahab Alam picked four wickets for 30 runs which helped his side to restrict Afghanistan to 199 runs.

For Nepal, it was S Sundar and Aasif Sheikh who started the proceedings but unfortunately couldn’t provide a start which their side was expecting. Middle order batsman, DS Airee showed a brief resistance before he threw his wicket away to a part-time bowler, Tariq. In the end, it was Mujeeb and Yousuf Zazai who were able to take wickets in quick succession and take the game away from Nepal.

Ibrahim Zadran, the Star Performer

It was another cracker jack of a game that went all the way down to the wire but today it was Afghanistan, who held their nerve and by virtue of that, won the game. Ibrahim Zadran was named Man of the match for his important 101 runs which turned out to be the absolute difference between two sides.

Afghanistan ended the tournament with their head held high and opened their way for 2018 Under-19 World Cup with a glorious win over Nepal.