AFGHANISTAN & NEPAL POST EMPHATATIC VICTORIES – ACC U 19 PREMIER KUWAIT 2014
Nepal U 19 cricketers once again proved to be at their best while tackling their counterparts Kuwait U 19 as they clashed at the TACK-TEC ground in the ongoing ACC U 19 Premier Kuwait 2014 tournament. Playing professional & entertaining cricket, Nepal produced their skill & experience to outwit Kuwait by a huge margin of 262 runs to post their second victory in as many matches.
Electing to bowl first after winning the toss and on a pitch which seemed to be offering more encouragement to fast bowlers, Kuwait pacers Shahrukh Quddos & Yousef bowled spectacularly well in getting 3 of the top order Nepali batsmen back in the pavilion in the first 5 overs. Following the loss of three early wickets Nepal skipper Raju Rejal & Aarif Sheikh slowly steadied the innings first and once they set their eyes well, accelerated the scoring with some classical strokes all-round the wicket to add 94 runs for the fifth wicket. Raju Rijal was eventually caught by Jibran of Mukadam for 31 runs.
Meanwhile the irresistible Aarif Shiekh proved once again the class that he possessed by exhibiting tremendous skills with a fine mixture of front foot drives and back foot strokes through the point and mid-wicket regions and along with Sandeep Suttar saw Nepal flourish gradually. Aarif Shiekh’s 89 runs were studded with 6 fours and 1 six while Sandeep Suttar stroked a useful 49 runs to his credit. Dipendra Airee and S. Khanal gave Nepal team the much needed impetus by smashing the Kuwaiti death end bowlers to post a huge total of 325 runs in 50 overs. S. Khanal remained unbeaten with 64 runs (2 sixes) while Airee smashed 48 quick runs which was studded with 4 sixes. Mr. Extras raised to an enormous 39 runs. Sharukh Quddos bowled well for Kuwait taking 2 for 48 and Waseef Mukadam bowled economically well taking I for 36. Aarif Sheikh was declared Player of the match for his match saving innings of 89 solid runs.
Chasing a huge total ahead, Kuwait succumbed to the accurate & steady bowling of the Nepalese lads and were skittled out for 63 runs in the 28th over. D. Sreshtha & Irshad Ahmed bowled a hostile spell bagging 2 wickets each while Dhamal with his off breaks accounted for 2 wickets.
In the second match of the day at Kuwait Cricket’s picturesque Sulaibiya ground, Afghanistan winning the toss elected to bat first and had an early setback when their opener Shaidullah was spectacularly caught & bowled by Ali Khan. One drop Insanullah joined Hazaratullah and both played sensibly well by adding 66 runs to the third wicket when Hazaratullah was out on his individual score of 45 which contained 3 sixes. Insanullah was soon back in the pavilion for a neat 21 to his credit.
The introduction of Wahidullah Shafaq and Tariq Stanikzai changed the entire scenario of the game as they transformed the match to a T20 style by attacking the UAE bowlers with awesome power & precise timing. The cherry was sent for a leather hunt to all parts of the ground as Tariq raised to his century in just 64 balls and smashed a career best 160 runs with 13 huge sixes and 6 boundaries. Wahidullah cracked an equally entertaining 87 runs with 3 hits over the fence as Afghanistan roared to a mammoth total of 389 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 50 0vers. K.W. Perara was the most successful bowler for UAE taking 3 for 89 while MK Rabel bowled well to capture 1 for 45 in 10 overs.
Facing a huge challenge, UAE’s K.V. Shekar was the only batsman to put up some resistance as the rest of them were outwitted by the pace & spin combination of Afghanistan bowlers who maintained tidy line & length to bundle out UAE for 83 runs, thus giving Afghanistan a victory by 306 runs. Naveen Ul Haque claimed 4 wickets for 21 runs while leggie Rashid Khan & Shahidulla chipped in with 2 wickets each. Tariq Stankzai was undoubtedly the player of the match for his swashbuckling 160 runs.
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