Shahzaib Khan continued his stunning run of form, slamming an unbeaten 80 to take Pakistan past New Zealand by ten wickets in their men’s Under-19 World Cup match in East London, but the canter was really set up by the bowling unit.
New Zealand, after electing to bat first, were 28 for 3 in seven overs, Luke Watson, Tom Jones and Snehith Reddy all falling to Ubaid Shah’s pace. There was a bit of a fightback, first courtesy Oliver Tewatiya (29) and captain Oscar Jackson (12), and then a more substantial one from Tewatiya and top-scorer Lachlan Stackpole (41), adding 61 runs for the fifth wicket. But New Zealand, who had recovered from their wobbly start to reach the halfway mark at a relatively respectable 116 for 4, collapsed again.
Stackpole and Tewatiya were both dismissed offspiner Naveed Ahmed Khan between the 26th and 28th overs, and this time, there were no fight-backs. New Zealand folded for 140, with left-arm spinner Arafat Minhas returning spectacular figures of 3 for 6 from five overs.
Pakistan were unlikely to be tested too much by that target, and with Player of the Match Shahzaib hitting 80 in 86 balls, with ten fours and three sixes, and Shamyl Hussain scoring 54 in 66 with six fours and two sixes, they rushed to the target in just 25.2 overs. That made it three in three for Pakistan, taking them top of the Group D table, with New Zealand in second place. Yesterday, Nepal became the third team to qualify for the Super Six stage from the group after a thrilling win over Afghanistan.
It wasn’t the most entertaining contest, but after 85.3 overs in which 293 runs were scored and only ten wickets claimed, Group C had its third Super Six qualifier – Zimbabwe.
Namibia, who had earlier lost to Australia and Sri Lanka, the top-two sides in the group, but had at times looked a stronger side than Zimbabwe, came undone when it mattered the most. Their batters just couldn’t get going against the likes of Ryan Simbi (3-20), Newman Nyamhuri (4-21), Kohl Eksteen (1-18) and Matthew Schonken (0-26), who combined for returns of 8 for 85 from 38 overs.
The result was 146 for 8 from 50 overs. It could have been worse, but Hanro Badenhorst and Woutie Niehaus combined for 46 unbeaten runs for their ninth-wicket stand – in 13.1 overs! – to give Namibia a bit more than they might have expected at 100 for 8 in the 37th over.
The chase was straightforward. Ryan Kam-wemba fell with the total at 21 in the fifth over, but fellow opener Panashe Taruvinga batted through the chase to finish with 59 from 115 balls, and Brandon Sunguro (29) and Campbell Macmillan (10*) gave him the support he needed to complete the job in 35.3 overs.—Agencies
