Watch: Afghanistan lose thriller despite effecting non-striker's run-out vs New Zealand In U19 WC

Afghanistan vs New Zealand ICC U-19 World Cup match on Tuesday, January 23 in Buffalo Park East London saw a dramatic finish. The young Kiwis finally held their nerves to eke out a one-wicket win against an enterprising Afghanistan side.

The Afghanistan U-19 side won the toss and opted to bat first. They were bowled out for a paltry 91 with Jamshid Zadran top-scoring with 22 runs from 32 balls. The next best score for Afghanistan was an unbeaten 10 by Arab Gul Momand.

For New Zealand, the right-arm pacer Matt Rowe picked up 5/21 including two maidens. Ryan Tsourgas picked up 2/33, Ewald Schreuder picked up 2/15 and their skipper Oscar Jackson picked up 1/23.

It was expected to be an easy chase for New Zealand, but the Afghanistan spinners had something else in mind. They had a four-man spin attack all of whom took wickets. Allah Ghazanfar took three wickets, Khalil Ahmed and Arab Gul Momand took two each.

New Zealand Win Low-Scoring Thriller By 1 Wicket Against Afghanistan Despite Dramatic Run Out

New Zealand were 90/8 in the 29th over of their innings when the Afghanistan skipper Naseer Khan Maroofkhil ran out the batter at the non-striker’s end Ewald Schreuder.

The batter was standing just outside the crease when Khan, the skipper ran him out. Previously this mode of dismissal was named as “Mankad” but now the ICC changed it to being a normal run out.

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The New Zealand dressing room went into silent mode once the third umpire agreed with the decision. The players were in disbelief at what they saw. It was an instance when the Sportsmanspirit question was raised.

Rowe who earlier took a fifer with the ball kept his calm to hit the winning runs in the 29th over. Rowe hit the winning runs on the second ball just after Schreuder was controversially run out.

This was Afghanistan U-19’s second consecutive defeat in the tournament. They lost the first game by 181 runs against Pakistan who scored 284/9 with the bat. Afghanistan in response were bowled out for 109. In this match as well they were bowled out for just 91. Thus batting seems to be a major concern for the U-19 team at the moment.

They play their next game against the Nepal U-19 team on January 26 in Buffalo Park, East London. They need to win the match to keep their World Cup hopes alive. A loss will mean an end of the road for the young Asian side.

India are topping from Group A, England from Group B, Australia from Group C, and New Zealand U-19 from Group D at the moment. Every team has at least played a game each.

The 2024 U-19 World Cup started on January 19 in South Africa. India are the defending champions of the U-19 World Cup. They started their campaign with a win against Bangladesh After posting 251 for 7 on a challenging pitch at Mangaung Oval, India bowled Bangladesh for 167 to register a comprehensive win. The side faces the Ireland and USA U-19 teams in their next two games on January 25 and 28 respectively.

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Watch: Dramatic Run Out During New Zealand vs Afghanistan