Pakistan’s ICC U19 Cricket World Cup campaign got off to a disappointing start on Friday as England dismantled the Green Shirts’ top order, taking six wickets for 86 runs to seal a 37-run victory.
Winning the toss at the Takashinga Sports Club in Harare, Pakistan U19 team captain Farhan Yousuf elected to field first — a decision that turned out to be in the team’s favour as it bowled out England for just 210 in a fifty-over match.
English batter Caleb Falconer scored 66 runs, for which he also got the Man of the Match award later, aided by Ben Dawkins’ 33 and Ralphie Albert’s 25.
With the help of the commanding spells by Pakistani bowler Ahmed Hussain, who took three wickets, and Ali Raza, Abdul Subhan, and Moshin Qamar, who grabbed two wickets each, Pakistan established their position, booming in the first innings.
While chasing the target, however, Pakistan’s top order could not stand England’s Alex Green and James Minto’s bowling attack, as both took a couple of wickets each.
Six of Pakistan’s batters were sent back to the pavilion at the score of just 86 runs.
Despite captain Yousaf’s 65-run knock, a fighting and resilient one, no other Pakistan batter could sustain on the pitch anymore to keep the chase alive.
U19 Asia Cup’s Final hero Sameer Minhas could only add 10 runs before being out of the innings.
England bowled Pakistan out for just 173 runs in 46.3 overs.
In the upcoming match, Pakistan U19 cricket team has to face Scotland’s U19 on Jan 19.
The tournament opener turned out to be gloomy, but the remaining matches could help Green Shirts keep the hopes up for the knockouts.
