(Cricket news) The New Zealand U19 team escaped a loss, as they defeated Afghanistan U19 in a low scoring thriller at Buffalo Park on Tuesday, in 11th match of the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup. New Zealand won the game with just a solitary wicket in hand, escaping a shameful defeat.

Being put into bat, on an overcast day in East London, the Afghanistan batters never looked settled in the middle. Ryan Tsourgas ,the Kiwi pacer inflicted two early blows for Afghanistan reducing them to 13/2 inside 3 overs. Jamshid Zadran the Afghan opener tried to pull back things but it only lasted for a few overs, as Matt Rowe ran through the Afghanistan middle order with a superb spell of bowling (5/21).

Afghanistan were rolled over for a very small total of 91 by the Kiwis. Jamshid Zadran was the top scorer for Afghanistan, who piled up 22 runs. Momand was the only other batter apart from Zadran who was able to touch the double digit mark scoring 10 off 20 balls lower down the order.

The chase which initially looked as a mere formality turned out to be a very challenging one for New Zealand. Ghazanafar the Afghan spinner ran through the Kiwi top order, picking up 3 quick wickets. Khalil Ahmed the leg spinner then chipped in with a few wickets to further worsen the condition for the Kiwis reducing them to 42/5.

Oscar Jackson the New Zealand skipper was the lone warrior who stood at one end and scored valuable 26 runs for his team. Wickets kept falling from one end. Sam Clode the wicket keeper batter, however provided some support to his skipper and stitched up a crucial 30 runs partnership before he was dismissed by Maroofkhil.

There was still some twist in the game towards the end as Jackson was dismissed by Momand with 10 runs still required for New Zealand. However all the hardwork from Afghanistan went into vain as New Zealand somehow managed to chase down the target with just a wicket remaining, avoiding a rather embarrassing defeat.

Brief scores: Afghanistan 91 in 21.3 overs (Matt Rowe 5-21, Ewald Schreuder 2-15) New Zealand 92/9 in 28.2 overs (Oscar Jackson 26; Allah Ghazanfar 3-29, Arab Gul Momand 2-12)

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