My third day’s report on Asian Cricket Council website: Pakistan records a thrilling win over India as Bangladesh and Afghanistan register big victories

By K.R. Nayar

Pakistan registered a last ball thrilling two-wicket win over defending champions India while Afghanistan destroyed host UAE’s batting for a 140 runs victory at the ICC Cricket grounds.  Bangladesh recorded a mammoth 227 runs win over Kuwait at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on the third day of the ninth edition of the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup. 

Pakistan stop India through a last-ball thriller 

Pakistan produced a last-ball victory over defending champions India through a nail-biting thriller at the ICC Academy Ground 2. Chasing India’s total of 237, Pakistan needed eight runs off the last over. Ahmed Khan (29n.o) smashed the last ball of the final over for a boundary to record a two-wicket win. 

Muhammad Shahzad orchestrated Pakistan’s chase towards the challenging target through a brilliant 81 off 105 balls studded with four boundaries and five sixes. Though the match swung like a pendulum, with Pakistan losing wickets at regular intervals, their batsmen kept their cool and took their team to the target.

Toss before India-Pakistan match. Photo: ACC

The exciting encounter began with Pakistan winning the toss and electing to field. Pakistan picked early wickets when their pacer Zeeshan Zameer, who had played in franchise league for Islamabad United and for Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10, struck thrice. He removed Indian opener Angkrish Raghuvanshi with the fourth ball of the first over by having him caught behind by wicketkeeper Haseebullah Khan for a duck. Zameer then went on to dismiss one drop Shaikh Rashid caught by Irfan Khan for 6 and also clean bowled Indian skipper Yash Dhull for a duck off successive balls from his second over. 

Nishant Sindhu, denying Zameer a hat-trick, settled down. Harnoor Singh, who had cracked a century in India’s first match against the UAE, began the rescue act. Together they put on 27 runs for the fourth wicket before Awais Ali had Sindhu offer wicketkeeper Haseebullah his second catch of the day after scoring eight runs.  Rajangad Bawa joined Singh and India went past the 50-run mark in the ninth over. 

Singh fell four short of his half century when Awais Ali struck again to have him caught by Muhammad Shehzad.  Singh’s knock of 46 came off 59 balls with six boundaries and with Bawa he put on 55 runs off 68 balls.

Half of the Indian team was back in the pavilion for 96.  That’s when wicketkeeper Aaradhya Yadav joined Bawa and they put on another 38 runs for the sixth wicket before Bawa got caught and bowled by left-arm spinner Maaz Ahmad Sadaqat. Bawa scored 25 runs off 59 balls. 

Kaushal Tambe and Yadav then swelled the total through a 50 runs partnership for the seventh wicket. Tambe hit 32 runs off 34 balls before being caught by Irfan Khan off Pakistan skipper Qasim Akram. Vicky Ostwal lasted only eight balls to score six runs before being run out.

Pakistan's Muhammad Shehzad receives the Player of the Match award. Photo: ACC

Yadav reached his 50 in 82 balls but lasted only one more ball before becoming Zameer’s fourth victim, getting caught by Muhammad Shehzad. His knock of 50 had three boundaries. Rajvardhan Hangargekar then took charge and went for his shots. He hit Ali Asfand for a six and a boundary in the 47^th over and then hit Awais Ali for three boundaries in the 48^th over. Zameer completed his five wicket haul by dismissing Hangargker for 33. His knock off 20 balls had five boundaries and a six and that gave India a total of 237 runs in 49 overs.

Pakistan began their journey towards the target losing their opener Abdul Bangalzai for a duck.  Maaz Ahmad Sadqat and Muhammad Shehzad put on 64 runs off 86 balls for the second wicket. Raj Bava provided the breakthrough by having Sadaqat caught by Shaik Rasheed for 29.  Five runs later, Bava struck again to remove Haseebullah for 3. 

Pakistan skipper Qasim Akram joined Shehzad and took the score to 115 by adding 46 runs for the fourth wicket. Akram fell at his score on 22, trapped leg before by Nishant Sindhu. This was followed by a 47 runs partnership for fifth wickets between Shehzad and Irfan Khan before Shehzad got run out by Hangargker for 82. 

Pakistan did not waver despite losing Shehzad and every batsman that followed contributed to take the team to the target. Rizwan Mehmood hit 29 runs and added another 47 runs with Irfan Khan. 

The last over drama

In the 48^th over, Raj Bawa had Irfan caught by Sindhu for 33 and giving away just seven runs. The 49^th over saw Ahmed Khan hit Hangargker for a boundary and a six. With eight runs needed off the last over, Ravi Kumar had Zeeshan Zameer caught at deep cover by Hangargker for a duck with the first ball. Ahmed Khan and Ali Asfand could get only singles off the next two deliveries. Khan then took two runs off the fourth and fifth deliveries to make it two runs needed off the last delivery. He hit the last ball with enormous power to the long on boundary to ensure the win and join his teammates in the celebration in the middle. 

Player of the Match Muhammad Shehzad revealed that he has realized a dream. “It was my dream to be a match winner against a strong team like India. So I am thrilled at having won this Player of the Match award. I must admit that it was a nervous chase towards the target but all of us constantly told ourselves to be calm and go about our plan. In the end we earned a dream win.”

Pakistan skipper Qasim Akram feels that it was a brilliant allround show from his team. “We knew we will have to fight hard and we did it. We batted and bowled well, and that was what was needed. Everyone contributed especially Shehzad who ensured we move towards the target. We told everyone to be calm and keep going steadily towards the target.  We are thrilled we could win over India.”

Indian skipper Yash Dhull has taken the defeat to Pakistan on his stride and said: “It was anybody’s game. In the end Pakistan won it but I believe it was good effort by our team. Even our total was good enough with excellent contributions from our batsmen and we bowled well too. There there will always be many ifs and buts in such a close match. We will learn from this defeat and comeback stronger in the coming matches.” 

Brief scores:
Pakistan Under-19 beat India Under-19 by two wickets. Indian Under-19: 237 in 49 overs (Harnoor Singh 46, Raj Bawa 25, Aaradhya Yadav 50, Kaushal Tambe 32,  Rajvardhan Hangargekar 33, Zeeshan Zameer 5 for 60, Awais Ali 2 for 43)  Pakistan Under-19: 240 for 8 in 50 overs (Maaz Sadaqat 29, Muhammad Shehzad 82, Qasim Akram 22, Irfan Khan 33, Rizwan Mehmood 29, Ahmed Khan 29n.o, Raj Bawa 4 for 56) 
Player of the Match: Muhammad Shehzad

UAE crumble before Afghanistan’s deadly bowling attack

UAE’s batting took a hard blow before the deadly bowling of Afghanistan bowlers Bilal Sami (3 for 12),  Khalel Ahmad (3 for 23), and Izharulhaq Naveed (2 for 7) to be bowled out for a paltry 54 runs in 14.4 overs. Afghanistan had posted a challenging 194 for 9 through Allah Noor Naseri’s unbeaten 100.

UAE won the toss, elected to field, and earned early success. Saliles Jaishankar trapped opener Suliman Arabzai leg before for 3 while one-drop batsman and skipper Suliman Safi got caught by Dhruv Parashar off Ali Naseer for 4.

Toss before  Afghanistan-UAE match. Photo: ACC 

Opener and wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Ishaq and Allah Noor started cautiously but Jaishankar struck again to remove Ishaq, caught by UAE skipper Alishan Sharafu, for 7. Noor and Ijaz Ahmad then went on to add 85 runs for the fourth wicket before Nilansh Keswani provided the breakthrough. He had Ahmad caught by Adhitya Shetty for 34. Keswani struck again and trapped Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai leg before for a duck and also had Nangeyalia Kharote caught by Ali Naseer for 4. 

 Noor, who reached his half century in 63 balls, maintained the run flow by picking the gaps and refusing to play any rash shots.  Izharulhaq Naveed provided him excellent support, and together they put on 64 runs in 100 deliveries. Naveed hit 24 runs before Aayan Afzal Khan got him run out. Soon Sharafu removed Noor Ahamd for 10 having him caught by Ali Naseer. However, Noor remained unconquered on 100 off 123 balls with 11 boundaries and a six.

UAE got off to shaky start losing opener Aryansh Sharma for a duck to the last ball of the first over from Bilal Sami.  One-drop Dhruv Parashar also fell for a duck to Khalel Ahmad. UAE skipper Alishan Sharafu too followed falling to Ahmad for 3. Sami then went on to trap opener Kai Smith leg before for 9. When Sami trapped Soorya Satish too leg before for a duck, half the side was back in the pavilion for just 14 runs in seven overs. 

Afghanistan's Allah Noor Naseri receives the Player of the Match award. Photo: ACC

Punya Mehra got run out for the second successive time in this tournament for a duck. Ali Naseer became the fifth batsman to get out for a duck when Khalel had him caught by Suliman Safi. Despite the score reading 17 for 6, Nilansh Keswani went on to play some lovely shots to get on top of the bowling.  He hit Khalel for three consecutive boundaries in the 10th over. Afghanistan immediately introduced their willy left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad. He ended Keswani’s innings with the fourth delivery of his first over. 

Keswani had put on 25 runs for the eighth wicket with Aayan Afzal Khan. Leg spinner Izharulhaq Naveed clean bowled Adhitya Shetty for 2 and also trapped Jaishankar leg before for a duck to wind up the UAE innings.

Player of the Match Allah Noor Naseri said: “I had a plan to bat till the end and that is how I got this century. Although I have been the Player of the Match thrice before, this is the first time I am getting a century and hence it is very special for me. I want to build on the confidence from this century and score more runs.”

 Afghanistan skipper Suliman Safi hailed his team for their superb comeback show after losing to Pakistan in the first match: “It was a splendid comeback by my team after a defeat. We had a fine display of top class bowling and wonderful batting. Allah Noor’s century came at a crucial time. We will carry this confidence into the coming matches."

UAE skipper Alishan Sharafu attributed his team’s defeat to poor batting. “Our top order has failed again. We should have batted like Nilansh Keswani did down the order. It was indeed top class bowling from Afghanistan but we should have risen to the challenge. It is a learning curve for us.”

Brief scores: 
Afghanistan Under-19 bt UAE Under-19 by 141 runs. 
Afghanistan Under-19: 194 for 9 in 50 overs (Allah Noor Naseri 100, Ijaz Ahmad Ahmadzai 30, Izharulhaq Naveed 24, Sailles Jaishankar 2 for 29, Alishan Sharafu 2 for 32, Nilansh Keswani 3 for 23) UAE Under 19:  54 in 14.4 overs (Nilansh Keswani 15, Aayan Afzal Khan 14n.o, Bilal Sami 3 for 12, Khalel Ahmad 3 for 23, Izharulhaq Naveed 2 for 7)
Player of the Match: Allah Noor Naseri

Mahiful Islam’s century lifts Bangladesh to another emphatic victory 

Bangladesh recorded their second consecutive victory beating Kuwait by a huge margin of 227 runs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.  The stage for this massive win was set by opener Mahiful Islam who scored 112 runs off 119 balls studded with 12 boundaries and four sixes and help Bangladesh post a massive total of 291 runs in 49.2 overs.

Chasing the target, Kuwait got bowled out for 64 in 25.3 overs with their skipper Meet Bhavsar producing a lonely battle with 43 runs. Bangladesh had defeated Nepal by 154 runs in their first match.

Kuwait won the toss and put Bangladesh into bat. Bangladesh lost an early wicket when opener Iftakher Hossain got caught by Abdullah Zaheer off Mirza Ahmed for 2. Opener Mahiful Islam went for his shots right away, well supported by Aich Molla.  Islam reached his half century in the 15^th over with nine boundaries and a six.  

Islam batted fluently and added 84 runs with Molla for the second wicket before Abdullah Farooq had Molla caught behind by wickektkeeper and captain Meet Bhavsar for 20. Ariful Islam hit a run-a-ball 23 runs and added 53 runs for third wicket before getting bowled by Abdul Sadiq. Islam reached his 100 in 109 balls with 12 boundaries and three sixes. Tahjibul Islam chipped in with 25 off 19 balls before falling to Mohammad Umar.  After this success, Muhammad Umar also went on to end Islam’s fine knock in the 36^th over when he had him caught by Abdul Sadiq for 112.  Meherob Hasan hit a boundary off Umar and steered Bangladesh past the 200 run mark in the same over. 

Prantik Naworse, who had scored a century against Nepal in Bangladesh’s first match, came out to bat down the order and lasted only five balls to score five runs. He got trapped leg before by Mohammad Bastaki. Meherob went for his shots and increased the run flow. He hit 42 runs off 24 balls with five boundaries and a six. Skipper Rakibul Hasan’s run-a-ball 21 and Musfik Hasan’s unbeaten 13 ensured Bangladesh a total of 291 in 49.2 overs. 

Chasing the target, Kuwait found the Bangladesh bowling too tough to handle. Opener Jude Saldanha got caught and bowled by Musfik Hasan while Ripon Mondol picked two quick wickets. He first trapped Abdul Sadiq leg before for 1 and had Muhammad Umar caught by Naimur Rohman for a duck. 

Bhavsar tried hard to lifted his team from three wickets down for seven runs through a 20 runs partnership with Abduallah Zaheer. Unfortunately, Zaheer got run out for 2. After this partnership, Bhavsar put on 27 runs with Mirza. Then Ahmed Rakibul Hasan bowled Mirza for 11 while Mondol picked his third wicket by dimissing Zeeshan Azeem for a duck.  Hasan ended Bhavsar’s fighting knock of 43 made off 77 balls with five boundaries to ensure his team another impressive victory.

Bangladesh's Mahiful Islam receives the Player of the Match award. Photo: ACC

Player of the Match Mahiful Islam remarked that his century would give him the confidence to score more runs. “I got this hundred playing my natural game. It is my first century in such a big tournament though I have scored many centuries in domestic cricket. This century has earned me a lot of confidence to play many more such big knocks. I am looking forward to play against Sri Lanka and ensure we reach the semifinal.”

Bangladesh skipper Rakibul Hasan said that his team focusses one match at a time. “We take match by match and we are happy that the two victories we recorded are big ones. What has made me happy is that our batsmen are among the runs and for the second time our batsman has hit a century. We are also bowling well and we want to beat Sri Lanka too and top the group.”

Kuwait captain Meet Bhavsar attributed their poor batting to lack of practice. “For nearly two years our batsmen haven’t had much practice due to the pandemic situation. Bangladesh bowling is also of the highest standard. But I am sure with regular practice and more such exposures we will improve and produce better performances.”

Brief scores:
Bangladesh Under-19 bt Kuwait Under-19 by 227 runs.  Bangladesh Under-19: 291 in 49.2 overs (Mahiful Islam 112, Aich Molla 20, Ariful Islam 23, Tahjibul Islam 25, Meherob Hasan 42, Rakibul Hasan 21, Muhammad Umar 2 for 45, Abdul Sadiq 3 for 40, Henry Thomas 2 for 48) Kuwait Under-19: 64 in 25.3 overs (Meet Bhavsar 43, Ripon Mondol 3 for 10, Meherob Hasan 2 for 14, Rakibul Hasan 2 for 6) 
Player of the Match: Mahiful Islam