Uzairullah, bowlers seal easy win for Afghanistan

Uzairullah Niazai's 61 and a combined bowling effort helped Afghanistan post an easy win over Nepal in the U-19 Asia Cup.

Medium pacer Abdul Aziz struck in the first over after Afghanistan opted to bowl, removing Sahil Patel. It was a sedate start for Nepal as Afghanistan bowlers kept them in check, with Niraj Kumar Yadav and Aashish Luhar also departing in the powerplay. Dilsad Ali at No. 4 provided some hope with runs hard to come by for Nepal.

After left-arm spinner Zaitullah Shaheen removed captain Ashok Dhami, Aziz came back to have Dilsad caught for 32, Nepal's highest individual score of the match. Abhisekh Tiwari and R Biswakarma then put together 28 runs, Nepal's highest partnership of the day, but they departed in back-to-back overs, leaving their side at 89 for 7. Chandan Ram at No. 9 hit a four and two sixes to get Nepal past 100, but a double-wicket over from Wahidullah Zadran ended Nepal's innings at 124.

Faisal Shinozada and Osman Sadat got Afghanistan to a steady start in chase but Tiwari's two in two in the sixth over pegged them back. Uzairullah made sure Afghanistan's momentum did not drop as he added 52 runs along with Sadat, shaving off nearly half the target in the first 10 overs.

However, spinners Bipin Sharma and Khatri stifled the scoring post the powerplay, not letting Afghanistan score a single boundary for 38 balls. Uzairullah broke the pressure, hitting a boundary in the 19th over and went on to hit two more before he was dismissed for 61 off 59 balls. By then, Afghanistan needed only 16 runs, and they achieved that with ease to wrap up the win in 26.5 overs. The match, however, was inconsequential as both teams are out of the semi-final race having finished in the bottom two in Group B.