Afghanistan’s U19 (under 19) team lost to Pakistan today by 6 wickets (with 111 balls remaining) in a ICC U19 World Cup match. The 50-over match was played at Bangladesh’s Sylhet Stadium. Pakistan won the coin toss and chose to field. Afghanistan managed to only score 126 runs, at a rate of 3.04 runs per over. Tariq Stanikzai did manage to score 53 runs, but it was not enough. Strong bowling from Pakistan kept Afghanistan from scoring too many runs. When their turn at bat came, Pakistan easily reached the target and scored a total of 129 runs to win the game. Afghanistan will next go up against Sri Lanka on Saturday, January 30th.
Yesterday in India, Afghanistan’s A team 4-day match against Zimbabwe’s A team ended in a draw. Zimbabwe won the coin toss and chose to bat first. In their first inning, Zimbabwe scored 235 runs (all out; 63.2 overs). In their first inning, Afghanistan felt short on runs and managed to score 217 runs (all out; 66.1 overs). In their second inning, Zimbabwe scored 295 runs (8 wickets dec; 81 overs). In their second inning, Afghanistan had a target of 314 runs. They scored 124 runs (2 wickets; 39 overs). Despite the draw, the player of the match honors went to Afghanistan’s Rahmat Shah. The two teams will meet again for another 4-day match this weekend.