Afghanistan captain Naseer Khan Maroofkhil won the toss and opted to bat first against New Zealand in match 11 of the ongoing ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup 2024 in South Africa on Tuesday. (More Cricket News)
This the the second group outing for either side. Afghanistan were humbled by Pakistan in their Group D opener. Chasing Pakistan's 284/9, Afghanistan were dismissed for 103 in just 26.2 overs. Wicketkeeper-batter Numan Shah was the top-scorer with 26 runs off 31 balls.
New Zealand, meanwhile, registered a 64-run win against a fighting Nepal side. Thanks to Snehith Reddy's unbeaten 147-run knock in 125 balls, New Zealand managed to post 302/8 in 50 overs, then restricted Nepal to 238/9.
Playing XIs
Afghanistan U-19: Jamshid Zadran, Khalid Taniwal, Rahimullah Zurmati, Hassan Eisakhil, Numan Shah (wk), Sohail Khan Zurmati, Arab Gul Momand, Allah Ghazanfar, Khalil Ahmed, Bashir Ahmad, Naseer Khan Maroofkhil (c);
New Zealand U-19: Tom Jones, Luke Watson, Robbie Foulkes, Oliver Tewatiya, Oscar Jackson (c), Lachlan Stackpole, Zac Cumming, Sam Clode (w), Matt Rowe, Ewald Schreuder, Ryan Tsourgas.
Afghanistan, arguably the fastest-rising team in world cricket, are competing in this age-group tournament for the eighth successive time. In the 2018 and 2022 editions, they finished fourth.
New Zealand, the runners up in the second edition (1998), are back in the fold after missing the previous edition. They withdrew from the 2022 U-19 World Cup in the West Indies due to 'quarantine restrictions for minors' on returning home, and were replaced by Scotland.
