Uzairullah Niazai’s composed 61, backed by a disciplined collective bowling effort, guided Afghanistan to a comfortable victory over Nepal in the Under-19 Asia Cup.
After opting to bowl, Afghanistan struck early through medium-pacer Abdul Aziz, who removed Sahil Patel in the opening over. Nepal found scoring difficult from the outset as Afghanistan’s bowlers applied sustained pressure, with Niraj Kumar Yadav and Aashish Luhar also falling inside the powerplay. At No. 4, Dilsad Ali attempted to stabilise the innings, but runs remained scarce.
Left-arm spinner Zaitullah Shaheen broke through by dismissing captain Ashok Dhami, and Aziz returned to end Dilsad’s resistance, having him caught for 32 — the highest individual score of the innings. Abhisekh Tiwari and R Biswakarma briefly rallied with a 28-run stand, Nepal’s best partnership of the day, before falling in successive overs to leave their side struggling at 89 for 7.
Some late impetus came from Chandan Ram at No. 9, who struck a boundary and two sixes to push Nepal past the 100 mark. That momentum was short-lived, however, as Wahidullah Zadran’s double-wicket over wrapped up the innings for 124.
Afghanistan’s chase began steadily through Faisal Shinozada and Osman Sadat, though Tiwari’s double strike in the sixth over briefly checked their progress. Uzairullah then took charge, combining with Sadat in a 52-run stand that erased nearly half the target within the first 10 overs.
Nepal’s spinners, Bipin Sharma and Khatri, dragged the game out by clamping down after the powerplay, delivering 38 consecutive balls without conceding a boundary. Uzairullah eventually broke the stranglehold in the 19th over and followed up with two more fours before falling for a well-made 61 off 59 balls.
By that stage, Afghanistan required just 16 more runs and completed the chase comfortably, finishing the match in 26.5 overs.
The result, however, had no bearing on the tournament standings, with both Afghanistan and Nepal already eliminated from semi-final contention after finishing in the bottom two of Group B.
