ICC U19 World Cup 2022: Heroic Afghanistan fall short against England in semifinal

Categories: Cricket 2022

                  England kept their nerve to become the first team to reach the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2022 final after edging a thriller with Afghanistan by 15 runs. Spinner Rehan Ahmed became the hero for the Young Lions, taking three wickets in the penultimate over at crucial point when their opponents needed just 18 runs from the last 10 balls.

                  England will now face the winner of the other semi between Australia and India on Saturday in the final – a remarkable turnaround from the previous tournament just two years ago in South Africa when they finished ninth. As for Afghanistan they will head to the Coolidge Cricket Ground for the third-place playoff.

                 Once both sides were eventually able to take to the field in Antigua and Barbuda it was Afghanistan who made the stronger start. Jacob Bethell, who lit up the quarter-final tie with 88 against South Africa last week, was trapped LBW by Naveed Zadran, an early sign that England faced a difficult task.

                 Skipper Tom Prest then joined vice-captain Bethell in making an early departure, reducing them to 2-56, as the Young Lions struggled to command with the bat. George Thomas did steady the ship with an excellent 50 after a slightly nervy introduction at the crease, only beaten by an excellent delivery from Noor Ahmad.

                 England’s back-end partnership of 95 from George Bell and Alex Horton then managed to put a different dynamic on their innings. The duo attacked the Afghanistan seamers fiercely which managed to top the final total up to 231.

                The earlier interruptions from the weather meant Afghanistan had a revised DLS target to match this score and chasing their first ever ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup final, they knew a good start was needed to seize control of the game.