HARARE: Despite a fighting half-century by captain Farhan Yousuf, Pakistan suffered a 37-run loss in their ICC U-19 World Cup opening match against England at the Takashinga Sports Club in Harare on Friday.
Chasing 211, Pakistan were dismissed for 173 in 46.3 overs, as England handed the Asian champions an early setback in the 16-nation global event.
Pakistan lost opener Sameer Minhas (10) who was dismissed by Alex Green for in the fourth over. The seamer then removed fellow opener Mohammad Shayan (seven) to reduce Pakistan to 23-2 in the sixth over.
Number three batter Usman Khan (six) soon fell to James Minto as Pakistan dropped to 28-3 before Ahmed Hussain (12) and Farhan (65) tried to rebuild the innings.
However, the recovery remained shortlived as Ahmed was sent back to the pavilion by Farhan Ahmed while Huzaifa Ahsan (17) was dismissed by Ralphie Albert, leaving Pakistan struggling at 77-5 in the 24th over. Two overs later, Albert struck again to remove wicket-keeper Hamza Zahoor (four) to make it 85-6, further denting Pakistan’s chase.
Farhan meanwhile led from the front, anchoring the innings with a composed knock. He added a vital 48 runs for the seventh wicket with Abdul Subhan (14), bringing up his maiden youth ODI half-century.
The resistance ended when Subhan was run out, and Farhan was later dismissed by Minto. The skipper’s 86-ball knock included three fours and four sixes.
Pakistan’s tail failed to resist as England closed out the match.
Earlier, England posted 210 all out after being asked to bat first.
Openers Ben Dawkins (33) and Joseph Moores (seven) provided a steady start before Pakistan struck back through Ali Raza and Ahmed Hussain, reducing England to 67-3.
A key partnership between Caleb Falconer and Ralphie Albert revived the innings. Falconer played the standout knock, scoring a 73-ball 66 laced with three fours and two sixes, while Albert contributed 25 off 37. Pakistan clawed back late wickets, but England’s total in the end proved sufficient.
For Pakistan, Ahmed claimed three wickets for 38 while Ali Raza, Momin Qamar and Abdul Subhan claimed two each. Falconer was named player-of-the-match.
In other matches played on Friday, Australia crushed Ireland by eight wickets in their Group ‘A’ game while Afghanistan stunned South Africa by 28 runs in their Group ‘D’ encounter.
After restricting Ireland to 235-7, Australia chased the modest target in just 39.4 overs at the Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek thanks to player-of-the-match Steven Hogan’s century (115) and an unbeaten 77 by Nitesh Samuel.
South Africa in a huge upset lost the game as they looked to chase 267 at the High Performance Oval in Windhoek.
After being put in to bat, Afghanistan posted a solid 266-8 off the stipulated 50 overs as Faisal Shinozada (81), Khalid Ahmadzai (74) and Uzairullah Niazai (51 not out) struck half-centuries. The Afghans then dismissed South Africa for 238 as Jason Rowles (98 off 93) remained the lone batter who offered resistance. Khatir Stanikzai (2-46) and Abdul Aziz (2-49) were the main wicket-takers for Afghanistan.
Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2026