The Under-19 team of the ICC’s newest full member Afghanistan emerged new champions of the ACC Youth (Under-19) Asia Cup Cricket crushing the Youth team of Test elite Pakistan by a massive margin of 185 runs in the final at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
This was the 2nd consecutive victory for Afghanistan in the meet against Pakistan after beating them by seven wickets in the group match.
Pakistan (199 for 5 in 39 overs) managed a final berth eliminating high-flying Bangladesh Under-19 side (274 for 5 in 50 overs) by two runs under the D/L method in the rain-interrupted first semifinal at the same venue on Thursday while Afghanistan smartly reached the final eliminating Nepal by seven wickets in the 2nd semifinal on Friday.
On the way to the semifinal, Afghanistan beat Pakistan by seven wickets and outplayed the UAE by 134 runs after conceding a 61-run defeat against Sri Lanka in group affairs.
Sent in to bat first in the final, Afghanistan Youth team, riding on an unbeaten century by one down batsman Ikram Ali Khil, piled up a comfortable total of 248 runs for 7 in situated 50 overs.
Ikram Ali hammered an unconquered 107 off 113 balls featuring 10 fours and two sixes while Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 53-ball 40 runs with five fours and one six, Ibrahim Zadean made 76-ball 36 runs with one four, Darwish Rasool made 24-ball 18 with one four and Qais Ahmed scored 13-ball 14 runs, also with one four.
Muhammad Musa claimed three wickets for 46 runs while Shaheen Afridi took two 42.
Chasing a target of 249 runs, Pakistan Youth team were dismissed cheaply for 63 runs in 22.1 overs with only two down Mohammad Taha (19) and captain Hasan Khan (10) reaching double figure.
Mujeeb made the major damage to the Pakistani innings grabbing five wickets conceding only 13 runs while Qais Ahmed took three for 18 runs.
Earlier, Bangladesh Youth team smartly booked a seat for semifinal of the meet becoming unbeaten champions of Group A with all-win record eliminating defending champions India by eight wickets, crushing hosts Malaysia by 262 runs and beat Nepal by two wickets.
On the other hand, Pakistan reached the semifinal as Group B runners-up after beating Sri Lanka by three wickets, outplaying United Arab Emirates by 226 runs and conceding a seven-wicket defeat against Group B Championship Afghanistan.
