ICC U19 World Cup: Pakistan Skipper Qasim Akram Becomes First Player To Century And Pick Five Wickets In U19 WC Game

Pakistan U19 captain Qasim Akram created history in the game as he became the first player to score a hundred and claim a five-wicket haul in a U19 match on Thursday.

Pakistan U19 thumped Sri Lanka U19 by 238 runs at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua to secure fifth place in the ICC U19 World Cup 2022.

Qasim Akram scored 135* as Pakistan posted 365/3

Sri Lanka won the toss and they elected to field first, in response, Pakistan openers Muhammad Shehzad (73) and Haseebullah Khan (136) put up 134 runs in their partnership.

In the 25th over of Pakistan innings, Shehzad was caught by Sadisha Rajapaksa off Raveen de Silva’s bowling.

Akram joined Haseebullah at the crease and the pair went on to dominate the proceedings of the innings. The Pakistan captain played the role of aggressor in his 229-run stand with opener Haseebullah, who brought up his hundred in the 42nd over.

Khan reached the three-figure mark with a couple of runs to Dunith Wellalage on the second ball of the 45th over. The Pakistan skipper hammered 13 fours and six sixes during his 135* from 151 balls.

Riding on Akram and Hasebullah’s centuries, Pakistan U19 posted a mammoth target of 364 for their opponents.

Qasim Akram claimed 5/37 with the ball

Akram once again led Pakistan’s bowling unit as he rattled Sri Lanka’s batting order with this stupendous spell of  5/37 from 10 overs.

On the very first ball of the innings Akram got rid of Chamindu Wickramasinghe and in his next over he crashed the stumps of Shevon Daniel. He also picked the wickets of Pawan Pathiraja, Rajapaksa and Ranuda Somarathne.

Wellalage scored 40 from 67 balls while Vinuja Ranpul remained not out on 53, smacking five fours and a couple of sixes.

Awais Ali, Zeeshan Zameer, Abbas Ali and Mehran Mumtaz chipped in with one wicket each.

Also Read: ICC U19 World Cup 2022: Yash Dhull Looks Exceptional, Remarks Michael Vaughan