The Afghans showcased their bowling prowess when the team desperately needed it, as they beat their Sri Lankan counterparts by four runs in a low-scoring thriller at the ICC U19 World Cup Super League Quarterfinals on January 27. The Asian battle for supremacy saw Afghanistan emerge victorious despite posting only 134 runs on the board.
On a day dominated by the bowlers, both sides failed to bat their 50 overs or put a respectable total on the board at the Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua. But what separated the teams, perhaps, was a more rounded batting effort by the Afghans.
One of the two new Test member nations had middle-order batter Abdul Hadi top-scoring with a very watchful 37. Lower-order bat Noor Ahmad contributed a quickfire 30 towards the end. No.3 Allah Noor made 25. These three allowed Afghanistan to take their score past the 130-mark.
Still, Sri Lankan batters were expected to dominate their way through to the target, having asserted themselves over the West Indies less than a week back in their last group stage encounter. But what followed was a dramatic and untimely collapse.
The Lankan Lions lost regular wickets against some spirited Afghanistan bowling. Reducing their opposition to 43/7 at one stage, it seemed Afghanistan would coast along to the winning post easily. However, a lower-order stand between skipper Dunith Wellalage (34) and Raveen de Silva (21) kept their team in the contest.
A match defining partnership from Wellalage and De Silva 👏😍 #U19CWC #SLvAFG #ApeKollo
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Once Wellalage and De Silva departed, Vinuja Ranpul took Sri Lanka close with a measured 14-ball 11 not out. But the dismissal of No.11 Treveen Mathew (4) at the other end when only four more runs were required broke the Sri Lankan hearts and triggered great celebrations in the Afghanistan camp.
Afghanistan got out of jail when they looked set for an easy defeat at the halfway mark. The Afghans collectively pulled things back with the ball, as the likes of Bilal Sami (2/33), Naveed Zadran (1/19), Noor Ahmad (1/20), Izharulhaq Naveed (1/33) and Nangeyalia Kharote (1/23) came to the party.
The Afghanistan U19s not only kept things tight with the ball but also chipped at the wickets column frequently. Despite Sri Lanka’s late recovery, it meant that they were in control of things for most parts of the second half.
Sri Lankan batters were put under great pressure right from the beginning of the chase when Sami and Zadran bowled superbly with the new ball to reduce the opposition to 20 for three. Things went further downhill for them, with Ahmed, Naveed and Kharote carrying the good work forward and taking a further three wickets before the opposition reached even 50 on the board.
This would’ve been a painful defeat for Sri Lanka to accept, especially after having enjoyed a winning run during the group stage over Australia, Scotland and West Indies. They were set only 134 runs to win against Afghanistan but failed to reach there.
Even here, they had a few positives to take away with the ball. Their skipper Wellalage (3/36) bagged three more scalps for the tournament, but the stand-out performance was delivered by Ranpul, who bagged astonishing figures of five for 10 off his 9.1 overs. In the context of the game, Yasiru Rodrigo’s one for 41 off eight overs, perhaps, proved to be a costly spell for his team.
Brief scores
Afghanistan U19 134/10 in 47.1 overs (Hadi 37, Ahmad 30; Ranpul 5/10) beat Sri Lanka U19 130/10 in 46 overs (Wellalage 34, de Silva 21; Sami 2/33) by 4 runs
