Afghanistan made their intentions clear at the Cobham Oval in Whangarei on Saturday (13), comfortably beating Pakistan by 5 wickets in their Group 'D' 2018 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup opener.
In what was largely a see-saw encounter, the 75-run stand for the fourth wicket between Ikram Ali Khil and Darwish Rasool proved the difference as Afghanistan rode on the latter’s unbeaten 78-ball 76 to open their account.
Electing to bat, Pakistan were restricted to 188 with 14 deliveries remaining and Afghanistan surpassed the target by scoring 195 for the loss of 5 wickets with 15 balls to spare.
Big-hitter Finn Allen scored the first century of 2018 ICC Under-19 CWC as hosts New Zealand saw off West Indies in comprehensive 8-wicket victory at the Bay Oval in Mt. Maunganui.
In the end, it was all too comfortable for New Zealand.
The hosts sauntered to victory, riding happily on the back of the 163-run stand between Finn Allen and Jakob Bhula.
En route, Allen recorded the first century of the tournament, while Bhula fell short, ending at an 105-ball 83.
Their knocks helped New Zealand post 234/2 in 39.3 overs after their bowlers had restricted the defending champions to 233-8 despite their flying start.
Earlier, however, the Kiwi captain Kaylum Boshier might have been regretting his decision to bowl as openers Keagan Simmons and Kimani Melius sauntered to 123 without loss.
The latter, although reprieved by a missed run out, looked untroubled in reaching 78, even striking the tournament’s first six, smoked gloriously off the front foot over extra cover, before adding another three maximums.
At Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln, Bangladesh thrashed Namibia by 87 runs in a Group 'C' match that was restricted to 20 overs per side due to rain.
After Bangladesh posted 190/4 thanks to half-centuries from Mohammad Naim and Saif Hassan the result was largely beyond doubt, hard though Namibia fought.
With the fixture reduced to 20 overs a side, and with Namibia having won the toss and chosen to bowl, a fast start was imperative for the Asian side, and they got it thanks Pinak Ghosh, who dominated the early scoring, making 26 of Bangladesh’s initial 33, and striking four fours.
His departure brought skipper Saif Hassan to the crease, and he provided a captain’s innings, smashing 84 off 48 balls, before falling on the last ball of the 20 overs.
Opener Mohammad Naim’s 60 was also eye-catching, containing eight fours and a six, and the pair’s 97-run stand laid the platform from which Saif launched as Bangladesh plundered 55 runs from the last four overs.
After restricting Papua New Guinea to a well-below-par 95, a confident batting performance allowed Zimbabwe to canter to a 10-wicket win at Lincoln No.3 in Lincoln.
With rain having reduced the contest to 20 overs a side, Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to bowl.
At first however the only way a wicket looked like coming was through a run out, with a couple of mix-ups going unpunished.
This was as much down to canny Zimbabwe bowling as anything else, with no bowler proving too loose.
Off-spinner Wesley Madhevere’s 3/19 was the pick of the figures, but all combined to good effect.
There was a noticeable lack of intensity - although the appealing from PNG was at least energetic - as Zimbabwe's openers Greg Dollar and Wesley Madhevere took the chance to enjoy some time in the middle relatively free of pressure.
At Cobham Oval, Whangarei: Afghanistan beat Pakistan by 5 wickets
Pakistan U19s 188 all out (47.4) (Rohail Nazir 81, Ali Zaryab 30, Mohammad Taha 17, Azmatullah 3 for 34, Qais Ahmed 3 for 38, Naveen-ul-Haq 2 for 30)
Afghanistan U19s 194 for 5 wickets (47.3) (Rahmanullah 31, Ikram Ali Khil 46, Darwish Rasooli 76n.o, Nisar Wahdat 19, Azmatullah 12n.o, Hasan Khan 2 for 45)
At Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln: Bangladesh beat Namibia by 87 runs
Bangladesh U19s 190 for 4 wickets (20) (Pinak Ghosh 26, Mohammad Naim 60, Saif Hassan 84)
Namibia U19s 103 for 6 wickets (20) (Eben van Wyk 55, Loftie-Eaton 24, Hasan Mahmud 2 for 12, Qazi Onik 2 for 14)
At Lincoln No.3: Zimbabwe beat Papua New Guinea by 10 wickets
Papua New Guinea U19s 95 all out (20) (Igo Mahuru 26, Ovia Sam 24, Sinaka Arua 18, Wesley Madhavere 3 for 19, Milton Shumba 2 for 19)
Zimbabwe U19s 98 for no loss (14) (Gregory Dollar 41n.o, Wesley Madhavere 53n.o.)
At Bay Oval, Mt. Maunganui: New Zealand beat West Indies b7 8 wickets
West Indies U19s 233 for 8 wickets (50) (Keagan Simmons 92n.o, Kimani Melius 78, Alick Athanaze 26, Rachin Ravindra 3 for 30, Matthew Fisher 3 for 61, Felix Murray 2 for 37)
New Zealand U19s 234 for 2 wickets (39.3) (Jakob Bhula 83, Finn Allen 115n.o.)
Today's matches:
At Cobham Oval, Whangarei: Sri Lanka vs Ireland
At Lincoln No.3: South Africa vs Kenya
At Bay Oval, Mt. Maunganui: India vs Australia
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