ICC U19 World Cup 2020, Day 6 Round Up – Statistical Highlights

New Zealand and Pakistan secured their quarter-final berths from their respective groups on Wednesday with one game still to be played. The New Zealand team completed a thrilling 243-run chase, Sri Lanka, with a six on the penultimate ball of the game. Chasing 295 against Pakistan, the Zimbabwe team were 186/2 in the 36th over before losing their last eight wickets for 70 runs in 64 balls. Earlier, Mohammad Haris’ 48-ball 81 rescued Pakistan who were five down for 183 in the 38th over.

Afghanistan also got their second win after posting 265/6 in the 50 overs against the United Arab Emirates. During the chase, the UAE team were 61/0 in 17 overs but Shafiqullah Ghafari’s 2nd consecutive 5-fer and Noor Ahmad’s three wickets rattled the chasing side to just 105. South Africa registered their first win of the tournament with a 150-run win against Canada thanks to a 92-ball 121 by skipper Bryce Parsons.

All the statistical highlights recorded across the four matches played on Wednesday:

1 – Shafiqullah Ghafari became the first player in the history of Youth ODI Cricket to bag 5-wicket hauls in consecutive innings/matches. He took 6/15 against South Africa in the tournament opener and followed it with 5/23 against UAE on Wednesday.

1 – New Zealand chased down the target of 243 against Sri Lanka on the penultimate ball of the game. This is only the 6th instance of a team reaching the target with as few as one ball to spare. Scotland while chasing 124 in 25 overs against Kenya in the 2002 edition and New Zealand in a 238-run chase during the 2012 edition against West Indies completed the target on the last ball.

4 – Ghafari became only the 4th player in the U19 CWC history to take multiple 5-wicket hauls. Pakistan pacers Anwar Ali and Riaz Afridi took two 5-fers in 2004 and 2006 respectively while Ireland leg-spinner Greg Thompson bagged a 5-fer each in 2004 and 2008 editions.

4 – The South African inning included four 50+ partnerships; the first such instance for South Africa in Youth ODI Cricket. Overall, this was the 9th instance of four fifty-plus stands in a Youth ODI inning. The last such occasion was recorded by India against Sri Lanka on Sunday.

39 – Pakistan’s Mohammad Haris complete his fifty against Zimbabwe in 39 balls; fastest known fifty in U19 CWC for Pakistan. Mohammad Nawaz’s 42-ball fifty against Afghanistan in 2012 was the previous quickest.

Haris had a strike rate of 168.75 during his 48-ball 81; the 3rd highest SR for Pakistan in a Youth ODI inning. (Min: 50 runs) Kamran Ghulam struck at 190.62 during his unbeaten 32-ball 61 and 182.14 during an unbeaten 102 off 56 balls; both against England in the 2013 U19 Tri-series.

44/10 – The United Arab Emirates collapsed from 61/0 in 17 overs to 105/10 in 32.4 overs. This is the worst 10-wicket collapse in Youth ODI cricket after a fifty-plus opening stand. In the 2018 U19 CWC match against West Indies, the Kenya team had an opening partnership of 51 runs before they collapsed to 96/10 as they lost 10 wickets for 45 runs in 15.5 overs.

121 – Bryce Parsons’ 121 is now the highest score by a captain in a U19 CWC game at home. In fact, Geoff Parker of Australia in 1988 is the only other skipper to score hundred in U19 CWC at home. Parker scored 103 against ICC Associate Youth Cricketers team.

349/8 – South Africa’s total of 349/8 against Canada is their 2nd highest total in Youth ODI Cricket. Their highest is 359/6 in the 2012 U19 CWC against Namibia team.