DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has officially declared the crew of umpires and referees for the upcoming Under-19 World Cup.
ICCs statement from Dubai indicated that 17 umpires and 4 match referees will be in charge of the initial rounds of the tournament. The designated officials will be the ones accountable for the equitable and open administration of the matches.
ICC has disclosed that Pakistan’s Faisal Afridi is included in the match officials’ list. His appointment is regarded as an honour for the whole of Pakistan cricket as he will be the international face of the country.
Meanwhile, the Super Six stage and knockout matches’ match officials will be disclosed yet to come. ICC people have said that choosing for the next stages will rely on the umpires’ and referees’ capabilities and knowledge during the tournament’s initial rounds.
Host countries of the Under-19 World Cup are Zimbabwe and Namibia giving chances for the young cricketers from all over the globe to show their skills.
ICC is notifying about the last-minute preparations in the two host countries to organize winning tournaments successfully. ICC also assured that the top-class officiating together with the players’ acts would be the main factors for the event’s success.
Salman Ali Agha makes history in T20 cricket
Although the national team failed to win the third T20 match played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, captain Salman Ali Agha’s aggressive and brilliant batting delighted the cricket fans.
In the match played in Dambulla, Salman Ali Agha surprised everyone by playing a smoky innings of 45 runs in just 12 balls, which included 5 fours and 3 powerful sixes.
His strike rate in the innings was 375.0, which is the highest strike rate by any captain in the history of T20 International cricket (under the condition of playing at least 10 balls, against full member teams).
Earlier, this record was held by Kieron Pollard, who scored 38 runs in 11 balls against Sri Lanka in 2021 and achieved a strike rate of 345.5, but now Salman Ali Agha has broken this record.
Interestingly, this record list includes world-renowned batsmen like Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma and Darren Sammy, but Salman Ali Agha’s lightning-fast innings left everyone behind.
Although Pakistan could not win the match, this historic performance by the captain is being seen as a positive sign for the team, and this innings will be remembered for a long time.
In a thrilling finale to the series, Sri Lanka won the last T20 match against Pakistan by 14 runs, and thus the series ended in a draw of 1-1. This match was interrupted by rain and thus curtailed to 12 overs for each side.
Pakistan flipped the coin and opted to field first. Sri Lanka, in their turn, gave a target of 160/6 in their 12 overs. The captain, Dasun Shanaka, was the highest scorer with 34 runs, and Kushal Mendis also supported him with 30 runs. Jannath Liyange and Dhananjaya de Silva each contributed 22 runs.
Wasim Junior was the wicket-taker among Pakistan’s bowlers, getting 3 wickets. The other bowlers, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf and Naseem Shah, wound up with one wicket apiece.
Taking the target of 160 runs, the Pakistani team got only up to 146 runs for 8 wickets to finish the innings in 12 overs, thereby losing the match by 14 runs. Salman Agha was the top run-scorer for Pakistan with his 45 runs, while Mohammad Nawaz and Khwaja Nafi were the next two highest scorers with 28 and 26 runs, respectively.
Wanindu Hasaranga of Sri Lanka was the ace bowler, taking 4 wickets and substantially contributing to his team’s success.
ALSO READ: Sameer Minhas shatters world record with fastest Under-19 century
