(Cricket news) Nepal U19 team defeated Afghanistan U19 by 1 wicket in a low-scoring thriller at Buffalo Park on Friday to register their first win and qualify for the super-six stages.

Electing to bat, Afghanistan had a horror of a start as they were rattled by an exceptional spell of bowling from Akash Chand. They were reduced to 43/6 inside 12 overs with only Hassan Eisakhil managing to register a double-digit score.

Naseer and Ghazanfar offered a fightback as they stitched a 42-run partnership before the latter was dismissed by Tilak Bhandari, bet were not able to bail the side out of trouble. A patient knock from Dawoodzai down the order helped the Afghanistan post a total of 145 runs and gave the bowlers something to fight.

Chasing a small score, Nepal didn’t have a very good start. They were reduced to 24 for 3 by the ninth over. It was then Nepal’s skipper Dev Khanal who rose up to occasion and stitched up important partnerships with Aakash and Dipak Bohara.

When Bohara departed with six runs needed, only 2 wickets remained. One more wicket fell before Subash Bhandari took the team over the line with a boundary in a nail-biting finish inflicting an upset against the Afghans.

Brief Scores: Afghanistan 145 in 40.1 overs (Allah Gazanfar 37, Naseer Khan 31; Akash Chand 5-34, Dipesh Kandel 2-17) Nepal 149/9 in 44.4 overs (Dev Khanal 58, Deepak Bohara 27 ; Faridoon Dawoodzai 3-21, Naseer Khan 2-28)

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