- Usman Khan takes 4/37; Sayyam and Daniyal two wickets each.
- Pakistan chased 227, losing nine wickets and winning with 3 balls to spare.
- Farhan (65), Ahmed (31) added 89 runs; Hamza finished 68* to seal the victory.
HARARE: A four-wicket spell from Usman Khan, backed by half-centuries from captain Farhan Yousaf and Hamza Zahoor, propelled Pakistan to a tense one-wicket victory over Afghanistan in the second match of the U19 tri-series hosted by Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday.
Put into bat first, the Afghan batting unit collapsed for a paltry 226 in 50 overs despite Osman Sadat’s anchoring half-century.
The opening batter remained Afghanistan’s top scorer with a cautious 75 from 106 deliveries, laced with four fours and a six.
Besides him, captain Mahboob Khan (49) and Faisal Shinozada (31) could make a notable contribution to Afghanistan’s total against a Pakistani bowling led by Usman.
Usman led Pakistan’s bowling charge with four wickets for just 37 runs in his 10 overs, followed by Mohammad Sayyam and Daniyal Ali Khan with two each, while Ahmed Hussain chipped in with one.
The greenshirts had to struggle to reach the target of 227 runs, losing nine wickets in the process and winning with just three balls to spare.
The Asian champions got off to a dismal start in the points race as they lost their top-order batters, including Sameer Minhas (zero), in 13 overs with just 42 runs on the board.
After the first setback, captain Farhan joined Ahmed in the middle, and the duo batted judiciously to anchor the run chase with an 89-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
The crucial stand culminated with the dismissal of Farhan in the 31st over and followed two more wickets in quick succession which saw Pakistan plummet to 149/6 in 35.1 overs.
Farhan made a 78-ball 65, while Ahmed scored 31 from 56 deliveries.
Wicket-keeper batting Hamza then took the reins of Pakistan’s chase and kept the scoreboard running single-handedly while losing partners at the other end at regular intervals.
The right-handed batter showed nerves of steel under pressure and eventually took his team over the line with an unbeaten 68 off just 51 deliveries, studded with eight fours and a six.
Salam Khan was the pick of the bowlers for Afghanistan, taking four wickets for 44 runs in his 10 overs. Zaitullah Shaheen scored two, while Nooristani Omarzai, Wahidullah Zadran and Uzairullah Niazai could claim one each.
After a triumphant start to the U19 series, Pakistan will face Zimbabwe at home in their next match, which will be played at the same venue on Monday.
