Afghanistan sound a warning 

Afghanistan sounded a warning ahead of the u19 Cricket World Cup after beating defending champions Australia by six wickets in their warm-up match at the Wanderers field yesterday. 

Afghanistan’s victory was the only big upset of a host of warm-up matches in Namibia and Zimbabwe over the weekend, although several matches had to be abandoned due to rain. 

Pace bowler Abdul Aziz Khan gave Afghanistan the advantage when he removed Will Malajczuk for 23 and Nitesh Samuel for 3, and when spinner Wahidullah Zadran dismissed Ollie Peake for 4, Australia had slumped to 37/3. 

Alex Lee-Young led a middle-order revival, but Afghanistan tightened their grip with regular wickets as Australia were all out for a modest 167. 

Lee-Young was their top batter with 57 off 87 balls (4×4, 3×6), while Jayden Draper scored 22 and John James 20 not out. 

Khan was Afghanistan’s best bowler, taking 3/30 off 5,5 overs, while Noorsitani Omarzai also had impressive figures of 2/6 off seven overs. 

In reply, opener Osman Sadat put Afghanistan in charge with a composed half century before he had to retire hurt on 54 off 87 balls (6×4).

Uzairullah Niazai added 28 and Mahboob Khan 34 not out as they reached the target with more than 14 overs in hand.

At the United field, Sri Lanka beat South Africa by 12 runs on the Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) method.

Sri Lanka were all out for 225 off 48.2 overs, with  Viran Chamuditha scoring 87 and Kavija Gamage 48, while Daniel Bosman took 3/35, and Paul James 2/9).

South Africa repliedwith 163 all out off 33.3 overs with Muhammed Bulbulia scoring 54 and Lethabo Phahlamohlaka 30; while Kugathas Mathulan took 2/19, and Chamika Heenatigala 2/27.

On Saturday, Tanzania made a great comeback to beat Japan by 81 runs on the Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) method at the United field.

Tanzania were rocked by three early wickets as they stumbled to 17/3 off 3,1 overs, but Karim Kiseto (34) and Agustino Mwamele (23) revived their innings with a 49-run partnership.

Captain Lakesh Barkania continued their comeback with a gritty half century, scoring 53 not out off 97 balls to guide Tanzania to a competitive 204/9. 

Nihar Parmar with 3/15 off five overs and Kazuma Kato-Stafford with 2/32 were Japan’s best bowlers. 

Tanzania’s bowlers then took control of the match as they skittled Japan out for a mere 45 runs to complete a remarkable win. 

Raymond Emanuel led the way with 3/7 off three overs, while Barkania weighed in with 2/13. 

The match between the West Indies and Ireland at the Wanderers field was abandoned due to rain after the Windies were all out for 246 off 42,5 overs. 

Jewel Andrew was their top batter, scoring 81 off 107 balls (7×4, 3×6), while Isra-El Morton added 31 not out further down the order. 

Luke Murray was Ireland’s top bowler with three wickets for 39 runs, while Thomas Ford took 2/38 and Febin Manoj 2/57. 

India thump Scotland 

In Bulawayo, India thumped Scotland by 121 runs on the Duckworth Lewis Stern method after rain interruped play. 

India amassed 374 for eight wickets off their 50 overs with most of their top order batters in fine form. 

Captain Ayush Mhatre was dismissed for 22, but Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continued his fine of late as he narrowly missed out on a century, scoring 96 off 50 balls (9×4, 7×6). 

Aaron George added 61, Vihaan Malhotra 77, and Abhigyan Kundu 55, as they reached an imposing total at close to 7,5 runs per over. 

Ollie Jones was Scotland’s best bowler, taking four wickets for 70 runs.

The rain regularly interrupted play and Scotland were eventually set a revised target of 233 but they didnt come close as they reached 112/9. 

Opener Theo Robinson was their top scorer with 30, while India’s left arm spinner Khilal Patel took three wickets for four runs off four overs, and pace bowler Deepesh Devendran 3/14. 

England also got off to an impressive start with a five wicket victory against New Zealand in Harare. 

New Zealand were all out for a solid 264 runs, with Tom Jones leading the way with 50 runs off 48 balls, while Callum Samson added 36 not out, Snehith Reddy 35, and Hugo Bogue 34. 

For England, pace bowler Alex Green took 3/37, while left arm spinner Ralphie Albert took 3/45. 

It was a formidable target, but most of England’s top order batters made solid contributions to reach the target with four overs to spare. 

Caleb Falconer scored 61, Ben Dawkins scored 53, Joe Moores 58 and Ralphie Albert 52 not out as they reached 266/5 off 46 overs. 

The match between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Masvingo was abandoned due to rain.

Kalam Siddiki starred with the bat for Bangladesh, scoring 70 not out off 97 balls (6×4), but he received little support as Bangladesh were restricted to 150/7 wickets off 36 overs, when the match was abandoned due to rain. 

Pace bowler Ali Raza was Pakistan’s best bowler, taking 3/32 off five overs. 

The match between the hosts Zimbabwe and the United States was delicately poised before also being abandoned due to rain.

United States opener Amrinder Gill scored an impressive century, before being dismissed for 100 off 118 balls (15×4), while Utkarsh Srivastava scored 30 as they reached 174/4 wickets off 33,2 overs. 

Medium pacer Dhruv Patel was Zimbabwe’s best bowler, taking 2/15.

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