Sports
England, Afghanistan register solid wins in U-19 World Cup
HARARE: England and Afghanistan produced solid all-round displays as they bagged big wins against Zimbabwe and West Indies respectively in the U-19 World Cup on Sunday.
Rain forced a share of the spoils between New Zealand and USA but not before Nitesh Sudini lit up the stage with a terrific hundred for USA.
Zimbabwe struggled to get going after being put in to bat by England as both the openers, Nathaniel Hlabangana and Kupakwashe Muradzi, departed just eight runs between them.
Kian Blignaut and Dhruv Patel steadied the ship for Zimbabwe with a 45-run stand. The partnership was followed by Tatenda Chimugoro combining alongside Patel for another 32 runs before the latter was dismissed.
Captain Simbarashe Mudzengerere then took the charge and carried his bat through but kept on running out of partners as Zimbabwe just about managed to cross the 200-run mark in their 50 overs, finishing with a score of 208.
Zimbabwe managed to dismiss the English openers, Ben Dawkins and Joseph Moores cheaply but Ben Mayes and captain Thomas Rew took the attack to the Zimbabwe bowlers.
Rew (86) and Mayes (77) both remained unbeaten as England won the game comfortably by eight wickets, chasing down the target in just 28 overs, putting them on the cusp of qualification for the Super Six stage.
England’s final group game is against Scotland on Wednesday while Zimbabwe face Pakistan on Thursday.
Afghanistan opted to bat first after winning the toss and the opening batters, Khalid Ahmadzai and Osman Sadat, justified that decision with a solid 86-run stand. Vitel Lawes broke the partnership, making way for a Windies comeback with two more wickets.
Captain Mehboob Taskin then came out to bat, joining Sadat at the crease as the duo revived the Afghanistan innings. While Sadat scored 88, he added 77 runs in his partnership with Taskin. Led by the skipper, Afghanistan managed to post a score of 262/6 in their 50 overs.
Jakeem Pollard and Lawes grabbed three wickets each for West Indies.
Afghanistan were on the mark with the ball from the get-go, picking up three wickets in the first five overs.
For West Indies, Jewel Andrew was the lone warrior as he bagged a half-century against a persistent Afghan bowling attack, who managed to wrap up the Windies innings for 124.
Wahidullah Zadran and Khatir Stanikzai grabbed three wickets each with Nooristani Omarzai being the pick of the bowlers with four wickets in a 138-run win.
Afghanistan, now into the Super Six, face Tanzania in their next match on Wednesday with West Indies taking on South Africa on Thursday.
New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl first and came out all guns blazing, blowing the USA top order away to leave them reeling at 40/5 inside ten overs.
Shiv Shani offered the first bit of resistance as his knock of 33 slowed down the New Zealand charge, allowing USA a chance to rebuild.
Nitish Sudini who came in to bat at number seven for USA grabbed that chance with both hands, leading the counter-attack. Stitching a 103-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Adit Kappa, he led USA across the 200-run mark.
Even after Kappa was dismissed, Sudini continued his endeavour to take USA to 253 in their 50 overs, remaining unbeaten on 117.
His knock blew new life into the USA who seemed on their knees in the first part of their innings.
While New Zealand started their innings with a bang, smashing 12 runs in the very first over, the heavens opened. There was no further action as the game was washed out with the points being split.
New Zealand will face India next on Saturday while USA take on Bangladesh on Friday.
Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2026
The Pakistan cricket team on Monday arrived in Sri Lanka for the T20 World Cup, which is set to begin on February 7.
In a post on X, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that a 15-player squad had arrived in the country.
“The 15-player national squad includes Captain Salman Ali Agha, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Naeef, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan, and Usman Tariq,” the PCB said in an earlier post, the informed of the squad’s department for the global event’s venue.
In the latest update about the aquad’s arrival in Colombo, the board said the team would rest on Monday and Tuesday.
“The team will play a warm-up match against Ireland on Feb 4,” PCB added.
The T20 World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, is set to begin on Feb 7.
On Sunday, the government gave the go-ahead for Pakistan’s participation in the tournament, but barred it from playing against arch-rival India on February 15.
The announcement came amid uncertainty regarding a possible boycott of the tournament over Bangladesh’s withdrawal following tensions with India.
A government source told Dawn that Pakistan had refused to play against India to express solidarity with Bangladesh. According to the government source, the primary reason for boycotting the match with India was the ICC’s “biased decision” towards Bangladesh.
BULAWAYO: India completed the semi-final line-up for the ICC Under-19 World Cup with a comprehensive 58-run win over Pakistan in Bulawayo on Sunday.
The victory in the final Super Six match at the Queens Sports Club means the Indian colts head into the knockouts unbeaten and as Group 2 toppers.
After a late surge helped them to 252 in 49.5 overs, India put in a clinical performance in the field to dismiss Pakistan for 194 in 46.2 overs.
India joined Australia, England and Afghanistan into the final four. The Ayush Mhatre-led side face Afghanistan in the semi-finals in Harare on Wednesday. The first semi-final, between Australia and England, takes place in Bulawayo on Tuesday.
Put into bat, India powered past 250 thanks to the acceleration provided by the lower order in the last 10 overs.
With a spot in the semi-final on line, India were expecting another blockbuster innings from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Though the left-hander gave the team a brisk start, striking five fours and a six as he motored to 30, he was living dangerously. After two close calls, Sooryavanshi fell to a shorter delivery from Mohammad Sayyam, with a bottom-edge carrying to wicket-keeper Hamza Zahoor.
Starting with Sooryavanshi, India lost three and in the space of four balls. While Sayyam also dismissed India captain Ayush Mhatre, Abdul Subhan bowled over opener Aaron George to reduce India to 47-3.
In their previous match in Bulawayo, India had scored a mammoth 352-8 against Zimbabwe. But on Sunday, the ball wasn’t coming on to the bat as well and stayed low. Vedant Trivedi led India’s fightback with 68. His 62-run fourth-wicket partnership with Vihaan Malhotra (21) helped steer India clear of immediate trouble. Trivedi also put on handy stands with Abhigyan Kundu and RS Ambrish.
After the middle order had kept the scoreboard ticking, the lower order provided the late flourish. Kanishk Chouhan (35 off 29) and Khilan Patel (21 off 15) helped India notch 71 runs in the last 10 overs, lifting the score to 252.
For Pakistan, Subhan dismissed Chouhan and Patel to finish with 3-33 in 9.5 overs.
To qualify for the semi-final at India’s expense, Pakistan needed to chase down the target within 33.4 overs; otherwise, if the innings ended with a six to reach 258, they had until 34.3 overs to get there.
Pakistan showed some early intent, scoring 13 runs off the second over. It seemed their chances hinged on Sameer Minhas, but India were able to send the star opener back fairly quickly. He was trapped leg before wicket by Henil Patel.
Following the early setback, Pakistan never showed any urgency to make a run for the semi-final spot. Hamza Zahoor (42), Usman Khan (66) and captain Farhan Yousuf (38) hung in there gamely even as runs slowed down to a trickle.
Chouhan conceded 30 runs off his 10 overs and claimed the wicket of Zahoor and was named the player-of-the-match. Skipper Mhatre claimed three wickets for 21 in his overs while Khilan Patel got 3-35.
Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2026
The Pakistan cricket team on Monday departed for Sri Lanka for the T20 World Cup, which is set to begin on February 7.
In a post on X, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that a 15-player squad was departing for Sri Lanka.
“The 15-player national squad includes Captain Salman Ali Agha, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Naeef, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan, and Usman Tariq,” the PCB said.
It said that the team would rest on Monday and Tuesday.
“The team will play a warm-up match against Ireland on Feb 4,” PCB added.
The T20 World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, is set to begin on Feb 7.
On Sunday, the government gave the go-ahead for Pakistan’s participation in the tournament, but barred it from playing against arch-rival India on February 15.
The announcement came amid uncertainty regarding a possible boycott of the tournament over Bangladesh’s withdrawal following tensions with India.
A government source told Dawn that Pakistan had refused to play against India to express solidarity with Bangladesh. According to the government source, the primary reason for boycotting the match with India was the ICC’s “biased decision” towards Bangladesh.
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