Amongst the thunderous beat of drums, Afghan dancing, loud cheers and scores of supporters Afghanistan marched into the finals of the ACC U-19 Cup Cricket tournament and inched towards that prestigious glory where a win would pit them against the best as qualifiers for the ICC U-19 World Cup tournament from the ACC Developing Nations.

Nepal who is always a very good fielding side relies on its bowlers to defend the target their batsmen set. So it was obvious that after winning the toss Nepal decided to bat. They managed to put up a score of 186-8 in 50 overs which is in that uncertain grey range where the chasing side gets it easily or sometimes collapses. Prithu formed the backbone of the Nepal score with 81 runs. Hamza Hotak returned with the best bowling figures of 10-4-18-3 for Afghanistan. The match was nicely balanced midway during the Afghan chase with Nepal taking their top 4 wickets and only half of the target runs scored. However, the daunting partnership of Aimal Wafaa (61 NO) and Asghar Hotak (47 NO) took them to victory in the 48 th over amongst the deafening roar of the Afghan supporters who had gathered at the KOC Ahmadi Unity ground since morning to cheer their team.

On the neighbouring Hubara ground, Hong Kong continued their dream run into the finals with a hard fought victory over Qatar. Batting first after winning the toss Hong Kong was all out in the 46 th over with Irfan Ahmed (59) as their top scorer. It didn’t seem a big target to chase but some fabulous bowling complemented by sharp fielding enabled Hong Kong to dismiss Qatar for just 138 in the 49 th over. Only Ashish Kumar managed to put up a fight with a score of 41. Man of the match was awarded to Niaz Ali who took 4 wickets for 26 runs.

The final will be a grand contest between Afghanistan and Hong Kong on Friday. Kuwait Cricket has made special arrangements for the Afghan supporters who they expect will arrive in thousands yet again to cheer their team as they have done in the past during the previous ACC Twenty20 tournament. Kuwait Cricket wishes to thank all its sponsors for their tremendous support during this tournament making it a grand success. The leadership of Sheikh Dhari Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah and the patronage of Major General Faisal Al Jazzaf have enabled Kuwait to achieve grander distinction in ACC through this event. The ACC development manager, Mr Bandula Vernapura himself is here to watch over the semi finals and finals along with other senior ACC officials. The tournament has also provided a very good platform to the ICC for their ‘Catch the Spirit’ movement to celebrate the ICC centenary with Tim Henderson the ICC Development Manager for the region doing the rounds in the grounds with his television crew and support of ACC media head Shahriar Khan.

Tomorrow will be matches for the 3 rd, 4th, 5th and 6th positions played at KOC Ahmadi cricket grounds.