Australia U-19 cricket team secured the third spot in the ICC U-19 World Cup after defeating Afghanistan U-19 by 2 wickets in a thrilling match that had taken place on Friday (February 4).
Batting collapse
Batting first, Afghanistan had registered a mere total of 201 runs on the board. Australia looked set to reach the score comfortably after they lost their second wicket at 113 but a batting collapse saw the Aussies lose 7 wickets within a span of just 83 runs.
There was at a stage when Australia needed only nine runs with five wickets in hand but a batting disaster saw the game go down to the final over of the innings but eventually Australia won the match with 5 balls remaining.
Earlier, Afghanistan had a poor start to their batting as they lost five wickets with just 85 runs on the board. At one point, Afghanistan were at 85 for 2 but a dismal batting show saw the Afghanistan team lose their next three wickets within a span of just 10 runs.
Iajz Ahmad Ahmadzai played a crucial knock of 81 runs off 79 balls to help his side in reaching a respectable total. In the penultimate over of the innings, he was dismissed by Australia pacer William Salzmann.
The 18-year-old right-arm pacer picked up three wickets in the match. On the other hand, Nivethan Radhakrishnan gave Salzmann a good support by scalping three wickets as well.
The run chase
In reply, Aussie opener Campbell Kellaway started the innings convincingly and scored a half century (51 runs off 82 balls) and later all-rounder Radhakrishnan played a vital knock of 66 runs off 96 balls. But a horrible Australia batting collapse almost helped the Afghanistan team in winning the match. At one point Aussies needed 40 runs to win off the final 10 overs but from there the game had a dramatic twist.
Ultimately, the match came down to the final over with just two runs required and Australia bowler Josh Garner smashed a boundary on the first ball to clinch a thrilling victory for his side.
For Afghanistan, their left-arm bowler Nangeyalia Kharote picked up three wickets as Shahidullah Hasani and Noor Ahmad claimed two wickets each.
