The Afghanistan Future Stars have put on a terrific all-round performance to beat the West Indies U19s by a huge margin of 138 runs and secure consecutive victories at the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup 2026.
Earlier in the morning, Afghanistan U19s won the toss and decided to
bat first. Osman Sadaat (88) and skipper, Mahboob Khan (86) made half-centuries
and Khalid Ahmadzai (34) chipped in with important runs, as they helped
Afghanistan Future Stars to post 262/6 runs on the board in the first inning.
In the second inning, they put up an even better performance with the
ball as they bundled out the West Indies U19s for 124 runs and completed a
massive 138-run victory, their second successive in the tournament.
Nasratullah Nooristani (4/16), Khatir Khan Stanikzai (3/20), and
Wahidullah Zadran (3/36) shared all the 10 wickets in the second half of the
game to seal the deal for Afghanistan.
Captain Mahboob Khan starred with the bat and smashed 86 off 69 balls
with 10 fours and two sixes to claim the Player of the Match award.
After winning both of their first two games, the Future Stars will meet
the tournament debutants, Tanzania, on Wednesday, January 21, at the same
venue, the High Performance Oval in Windhoek.