Spinners storm Afghanistan into semi-finals
Afghanistan 309 for 6 (Gurbaz 69, Ibrahim 68, Bahir
67, Omarzai 66) beat New Zealand 107
(Clarke 38, Mujeeb 4-14, Ahmad 4-33) by 202 runs
Afghanistan sprung a surprise on New Zealand by handing them a
massive 202-run drubbing in Christchurch to storm into the semi-finals of
Under-19 World Cup. Afghanistan not only scored 309 after opting to bat, they
then routed New Zealand in under 30 overs to register their third win in four
matches of the tournament.
Afghanistan's
innings was marked not by an individual effort but by several useful
partnerships. Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim zardan set the
tone with a stand of 117 runs in just over 20 overs. Gurbaz was the quicker of
the two with his 69 off 67 balls, studded with seven fours and three sixes, and
Ibrahim stroked a patient 68 off 98 balls. They lost two wickets in quick
succession before No. 4 Bahir shahtook over to pile on more runs with the
lower order even as Afghanistan were 226 for 5 in the 45th over. From there,
Bahir and Azmatullah Omarzai smashed 79 runs in under six overs to
storm them past 300, highlighted by two sixes in each of the 47th, 49th and the
50th over - all struck by Omarzai who hammered 66 off only 23 balls. Bahir
remained unbeaten on 67 off 72.
New Zealand's
chase started on a poor note as an in-form Rachin Ravindra was run out for a
duck in the second over. Offspinner Mujeeb Zardan, who has already played
ODIs and the BPL, dented them further by rattling the stumps of opener Jacob
Bhula (5) and captain Kaylum Boshier for a duck. New Zealand then slipped from
18 for 3 to 20 for 4 before Katene Clarke (38) and Dale Phillips (31) put on 66
runs for the fifth wicket. But legspinner Qais Ahmad trapped both batsmen
lbw in the space of three deliveries and New Zealand never recovered from 86
for 6.
Mujeeb and Ahmad
wiped out the tail too and finished with 4 for 14 and 4 for 33 respectively.
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