HARARE: Pakistan defeated New Zealand by eight wickets in the Under-19 World Cup. The thrilling match was played at Harare on Tuesday.
Abdul Subhan and Sameer Minhas led Pakistan to a convincing eight-wicket triumph over New Zealand in the 29th match of the Men’s Under-19 World Cup.
In the match details, Pakistan opted to bowl first, putting pressure on the New Zealand batsmen from the outset. Marco William Alpe was the first to be dismissed for just 2 runs. His wicket marked the beginning of a swift decline for the Black Caps. Hugo Bogue showed some fight, scoring 39 runs off 27 balls, with six fours and two sixes. Abdul Subhan dismissed skipper Tom Jones after scoring 15 runs off 16 balls. Other batsmen, including Snehith Reddy (6), Jacob Cotter (2), Brandon Mazopoulos (0), Jaskaran Sandhu (0), Callum Samson (10), Mason Clarke (17), and Hunter Shore (13), failed to make significant contributions.
Luke Harrison finished not out with 2 runs off 9 balls as New Zealand was bowled out for a mere 110 runs in just 28 overs.
For Pakistan, Abdul Subhan was the standout bowler, claiming 4 wickets for just 11 runs. Ali Raza supported well with 3 wickets for 36 runs. Mohammad Sayyam and Momin Qamar picked up one wicket each, with Sayyam bowling for 35 runs and Qamar for 21 runs, respectively. Ahmed Hussain had a tough outing, going wicketless with figures of 0-70 in his three overs.
While chasing a modest target of 111, Pakistan got off to a strong start, scoring 61 runs in the mandatory powerplay despite losing Hamza Zahoor for 8 runs off 11 balls. Sameer Minhas was exceptional with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 76 runs off 59 balls, featuring 10 boundaries and 2 impressive sixes at a strike rate of 128.21.
Usam Khan was removed by Luke Harrison, but skipper Farhan Yousaf and Sameer Minhas remained not out, guiding the Green Shirts to a convincing victory over New Zealand in the Super Six stage.
