A captain's knock from skipper Dev Khanal and a five-wicket haul from pacer Aakash Chand helped Nepal beat Afghanistan in their must-win final ICC Men's Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2024 group game in East London, South Africa on Friday. With the thrilling one-wicket win, Nepal U-19 have confirmed a place in the Super Six, where they will join Pakistan and New Zealand from Group D. (More Cricket News)
Chasing a tricky target of 146 runs, Nepal were reduced to 24/3 inside nine overs with their top-order wilting under pressure. And it soon became 91/6 in the 28th over. Then the skipper found an able partner in wicketkeeper-batter Dipak Bohara. Together, they stitched a decisive stand of 36 runs in 53 balls for the seventh wicket. The skipper was also involved in a 49-run with Aakash Tripathi (16 off 39).
Khanal finally got out for 58 off 89 balls in the 37th over, but by then Nepal were within touching distance of the target. But in the chaotic finish, Faridoon Dawoodzai removed Bohara (27 off 42) in the 42nd over, leaving Nepal still needing six runs in 48 balls but eight wickets down. And Dawoodzai was not done yet.
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The left-arm spinner struck again, getting the wicket of Aakash Chand for an eight-ball one in the 44th over. With two runs required, the last man Tilak Bhandhari joined Subash Bhandari. The chase was finally completed with a four, hit by Subash off Arab Gul.
Earlier in the day, Afghanistan captain Naseer Khan Maroofkhil won the toss and opted to bat first. But his decision backfired as Nepal pacer Gulsan Jha struck in the very first over. Then, Aakash Chand produced an inspired spell by removing the Afghani top-five for figures of 5/34 in eight overs.
For Afghanistan U-19, Allah Ghazanfar top scored with a quickfire 37 off 21 balls, while Maroofkhil (31 off 83) and Faridoon Dawoodzai (29 off 65) played patient knocks to give their total some respectability. Maroofkhil and Dawoodzai put together 55 runs in 103 balls in one defiant ninth-wicket stand, but as it turned out, a total of 145 all out proved too little to defend against a spirited Nepalese side.
Aakash Chand, the 19-year-old right-arm pacer from Bheemdatt in Kanchanpur, was adjudged Player of the Match. Recounting the nervy finish, the 19-year-old admitted that he "was praying to God and had his eyes shut."
Nepal made the ICC Men's U-19 Cricket World Cup debut in 2000, during the third edition of the event, in Sri Lanka. A 14-run win against Kenya after no result and abandonment in fixtures against South Africa and Pakistan, respectively, propelled them to the Super League, where they lost all three games against India, Sri Lanka and England, and finished eighth in the final standing.
They had since qualified for the tournament seven times with another eighth-place finish in their last outing before the 2024 edition, in 2016. They had failed to qualify for the 2018, 2020 and 2022 editions.
Afghanistan, the two-time semi-finalists, will not feature in the Super League stage for the first time in six years, spanning four editions. They finished fourth in the 2018 and 2022, and seventh in the 2020 editions.
They will now play the fourth-place team from Group A (Bangladesh/Ireland/United States) in the 16th-place play-offs at Willowmoore Park, Benoni on January 31, 2024. Afghanistan's worst finish in the biennial tournament was 16th in 2010, in their debut outing.
