The Nepalese U19 Cricket team are set to face Afghanistan U19 in the final group-stage match of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup. The match is a do-or-die for both teams as the winner will book a spot in the super-six stage.
The top three sides from each group will qualify for the Super-Six of the tournament. Within the Super Six, there are two sub-groups, with A and D teams competing against each other, and B and C teams facing off.
Nepal and Afghanistan both lost their previous two matches and the equation is simple, whoever wins a contest between them will march ahead.
Nepal U19 vs Afghanistan U19 details:
Date: January 26 (Friday)
Venue: Buffalo Park, East London, South Africa
Time: 1:45 PM (NST)
Live coverage: ICC.tv
Live score: You can cover the live score at cricnepal.com
Head to Head in World Cup:
Nepal and Afghanistan have never met before in the World Cup. This will be their first encounter in the mega event.
What to expect?
Both Nepal and Afghanistan have lost their previous two matches. So, it’s a do-or-die situation for both teams. Hence, we can expect a thrilling encounter.
Afghanistan has struggled to find form in their recent matches, scoring a low total of 103 against Pakistan after giving up 284 runs in the first innings. In another match, they were dismissed for just 91 runs against New Zealand, however, they put up a strong fight and narrowly lost by one wicket.
On the other hand, Nepal has performed well in both of their matches. They faced a defeat of 64 runs in the first game against New Zealand, where they were outplayed by the opponent’s batting. However, in the second match, Nepal scored 197 runs against Pakistan and remained competitive until the very end.
Looking at the recent form, Nepal has the upper hand but you never know in a game of cricket.
What happened in the previous meeting?
Nepal and Afghanistan faced each other in the second match of ACC U19 Asia Cup 2023 in Dubai. Afghanistan emerged victorious by 73 runs.
Invited to bat first, Afghanistan posted 261 runs on board. They were 33/3 at one stage but Jamshid Zadran scored a fighting ton to bring them on track.
In response, Nepal managed to score 188 runs before being bowled out in 40.1 overs. Only Arjun Kumal showed some fight and scored 91 runs.
Weather report:
As per Google’s weather report, there is almost no chance of the match being interrupted due to rain. The average temperature will be 29°C. The humidity is around 64% and the wind flow of 13 km/h.
Squads:
Nepal’s squad: Dev Khanal (c), Dipesh Kandel, Gulshan Jha, Durgesh Gupta, Subash Bhandari, Aakash Tripathi, Arjun Kumal, Deepak Bohara, Uttam Thapa Magar (wk), Dipak Dumre, Aakash Chand, Bishal KC, Tilak Raj Bhandari, Bipin Rawal (wk), Dipak Bohara
Afghanistan’s squad: Naseer Khan (C), Numan Shah (VC and WK), Hassan Eisakhil, Khalid Taniwal, Jamshid Zadran, Wafiullah Tarakhil, Ali Ahmad Nasar, Sohail Khan Zurmati, Rahimullah Zurmati, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar, Arab Gul Momand, Faridoon Dawoodzai, Bashir Ahmad Afghan, Khalil Ahmad and Zahid Afghan.
