Afghanistan produced the first major shock of the Under-19 World Cup as they secured a memorable 36-run victory over Australia at the Sheik Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Australia had secured an emphatic victory in their first group game as they defeated minnows Namibia by 106 runs but they were outplayed by an impressive Afghanistan side who had lost their opening match by ten wickets to Bangladesh.
“I am very proud of our team, they played so well today” Nasir Jamal, the Afghan captain, said, “I don’t think many people expected us to defeat Australia but we did it and we did it convincingly.
"We hope the people at home are enjoying the victory as much as we are – we play for our country and our people and we love to make them happy and proud. Now we have to put our heads down and try to achieve as much as we possibly can in this competition.”
Few would have predicted that Afghanistan would have posted a competitive total when they lost opener Usman Ghani in the first over. However, this would bring together Mohammad Mujtaba and Ihsanullah who combined to put on 126 for the second wicket as the Aussie bowlers toiled on a pitch that was offering seemingly little for the quicks.
Matt Short would eventually break the partnership when James Bazley took a sharp catch to dismiss Ihsanullah for 63, but this would only bring another talented batsman to the crease in the form of Hashmatullah Shaidi.
Cameron Valente would snare Mujtaba for 75 but Shaidi would continue to take the attack to the Australian bowlers as he batted superbly to bring up another half century.
The Afghanistan middle order would continue the attack before an impressive spell of bowling from Valente and Bazley would mop up the tail as Nasir Jamal’s side posted a highly competitive total of 253.
Valente was the pick of the bowlers with his three wickets costing him 59 runs, while Bazley would also claim three victims but his 9.2 overs cost some 69 runs.
Australia would have been looking to hugely talented opener Matt Short to get them off to a flying start but the 18-year-old was soon back in the pavilion after being stumped by Munir Ahmad off the bowling of Sharafuddin Ashraf.
His wicket brought Ben McDermott to the crease; another player who has been earmarked as a potential star of the future. The hard hitting batsman made 45 against Namibia but he would fail to trouble the scoreboard as he was adjudged lbw off the bowling of Sharafuddin Ashraf.
Jaron Morgan (47), Jake Doran (45) and Damien Mortimer (43) would all threaten to produce a big score before falling short of a half century as Afghanistan continued to pick up important wickets at crucial times.
At 188-8 it looked as though Australia’s challenge would fall well short but an explosive innings from Bazley would give them a slim chance of victory.
The all rounder smashed 54 from just 36 balls but he ran out of partners as Abdullah Adil (4-45) and Sharafuddin Ashraf (3-55) did the majority of the damage and cleaned up the tail.
It was all over with two overs to spare when Adil clean bowled Billy Stanlake to hand Afghanistan a memorable victory that sees them stand a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the tournament.
They next face Namibia on 19 February in Abu Dhabi, while Australia play Bangladesh who have two wins from two.
