New Zealand 92 for 9 (Jackson 26, Ghazanfar 3-29, Gul 2-12, Khalil 2-16) beat Afghanistan 91 (Jamshid 22, Rowe 5-21) by one wicket
The Under-19 World Cup got its first thriller when New Zealand scraped through by one wicket against Afghanistan while chasing a measly 92 in East London. When New Zealand got closer to the target by crawling from 52 for 6 to 82 for 6 in 11 overs, it appeared like they would go all the way but there was more drama in store. New Zealand lost Sam Clode and the well-set No. 5 Oscar Jackson, also their captain, at the score of 82, and when New Zealand needed just two to win with two wickets in hand, left-arm spinner Naseer Khan Maroofkhil ran out Ewald Schreuder backing up at the non-striker’s end.
“[It was] pretty nervous times [for us],” Rowe said after the game. “Lot of respect to the Afghanistan team, it was tough for our boys but had to get across the line.”
Earlier, Rowe’s outswing accounted for three right-hand batters and the same inswing removed two left-hand batters after Afghanistan opted to bat. Once Ryan Tsourgas took the first to wickets, Rowe ran through the Afghanistan middle order by spectacularly rattling the stumps of three batters, having one caught behind and another lbw. Only two batters – opener Jamshid Zadran (22) and No. 8 Gul (10) managed double figures as Afghanistan stuttered from 46 for 2 to 54 for 7 to be bowled out for 91.
