Under-19 World Cup: West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka won

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Potchefstroom. On day one of the triple-header of the ICC Men’s Under-19 World Cup 2024, Jewel Andrew shone once again with an unbeaten half-century as West Indies moved up the points table with a crucial five-wicket win over Scotland in Potchefstroom.

Alexander Voloshenk said that the team needs to organize its batting before the next match. He said, ‘Our fielding and bowling were good, but we failed in batting. We will have to try to resolve this before the next match against Zimbabwe.

Player of the match Supun Waduge expressed his happiness at playing a big role in the victory. My mindset was positive and I got my basics right; I was happy to score some runs. In Sri Lanka, we practiced in similar conditions so it was easy for me to adapt to these wickets and play for a long time.

After electing to bat first, Nepal gave a tough challenge to Pakistan in East London. Taking advantage of the poor bowling of Pakistan’s new bowlers, the openers made a fast start, but the breakthrough came with the arrival of Ahmed Hussain during the first change.

The leg spinner clean bowled Arjun Kamal and then got Akash Tripathi caught in the next over. The composed Bipin Rawal and captain Dev Khanal rebuilt for Nepal, but left-arm spinners Arafat Minhas and Ali Asfand helped Pakistan gain control of the match.

Asfand achieved success by sending back Khanal (23) in the 18th over. Minhas then dismissed wicketkeeper Uttam Magar and the well-established Raval (39) quite quickly.

From 80/2, Nepal slipped to 96/5, but they bounced back with runs contributed by the lower middle order. Gulshan Jha, Deepak Dumre and Subash Bhandari added more than 60 runs between themselves and more runs from No. 10 Akash Chand helped Nepal reach a respectable 197 runs.

Minhas was the leading bowler for Pakistan with three wickets, with Ubaid Shah taking the last two wickets on back-to-back balls in the final over. In reply, an 80-run partnership between Shamil Hussain and Shahzeb Khan, who had scored a century in the first game, gave Pakistan a strong platform.

Both were cautious initially, scoring only 33 runs in the first 10 overs, but the flow of runs started to improve after the powerplay overs. Just when it looked like Pakistan was heading towards the target, Chand delivered a double blow in the 22nd over, sending both the openers back within three balls.

He added the third over a few overs later by dismissing Minhas for eight runs. Akash Tripathi removed the fourth wicket in the 28th over and Pakistan was suddenly in trouble at 104/4.

However, Azam Awais stood firm for Pakistan at number 4, with good support from Hasan. A 54-run partnership for the fifth wicket put Pakistan on top of the game and ended Nepal’s hopes of a surprise win.

Dipesh Kandel dismissed Hussain for 29 runs, but Awais remained unbeaten on 63 runs and gave his team victory by hitting a four over mid-on. Pakistan will face New Zealand in their final match, with both teams having already made it to the Super Six stage. Meanwhile, after two defeats, Nepal will need a win against Afghanistan to stay in the competition.

Player of the match Azan Awais described his stand with Hasan as a vital part of the run-chase. The pitch was difficult in the second innings, the ball was not coming easily. Ahmed (Hassan) and I planned to play till the last. Despite wickets falling in the middle overs, we batted really well to win the match.

–IANS

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