Karachi: Pakistan Under 19s opens their account with a crushing victory over minnows Afghanistan, beating the opponents by a huge margin of 109 runs in ICC Under-19 World Cup, Group B, 1st Match played at John Blanck Oval on August 11, 2012 in Sunshine Coast, Australia.
Afghanistan Under-19s won the toss but elected to field first, giving Pakistan the maximum advantage to set a signifant target. Pakistan batting first scored 253 for the loss of six wickets in the total quota of 50 overs.
Pakistani openers Sami Aslam and Babar Azam give the team a slow yet promising start, scoring 21 and 75 respectively. Umar Waheed and Mohammad Nawaz played outstandingly, scoring 43 off 44 and 66 off just 50, correspondingly, stretching the score to 253.
In reply, Afghanistan looked uneasy right from the start only two batsman Hashmatullah Shaidi and Mohibullah Paak managed to score some runs against disciplened Pakistani attack in face of Zia-ul-Haq and other pacers and spinners. Afghanistan managed to score only 144 in 45.1 overs, loosing by 109 runs.
Babar Azam of Pakistan got Player of the match award. Abdul Naseri, Mohibullah Paak, Najibullah Zadran, Nasir Ahmadzai, Sayed Shirzad and Shabir Noori make debuts for Afghanistan Under-19s.