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Warm-up Wins for Afghanistan and Sri Lanka

Preparations for the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup continued with wins for Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in Sunday’s warm-up matches.

Both sides defied the rain to seal confidence-boosting wins in Windhoek, as Afghanistan beat Australia by six wickets while across town, Sri Lanka defeated South Africa by 12 runs.

Afghanistan ease past Australia
Afghanistan cruised to a comprehensive six-wicket victory over Australia via DLS in Windhoek.

A disciplined bowling attack limited Australia to 167 all out from 43.5 overs and Afghanistan had no trouble in chasing down their revised total of 164 from 48 overs after rain affected play in Namibia.

Adbul Aziz led the Afghanistan bowling attack with three wickets, including those of top order batters Will Malajczuk (23) and Nitesh Samuel (3).

Nooristani Omarzai was also a standout, with the right-armer finishing with figures of two for six and a miserly economy of just 0.85 as Afghanistan successfully stymied the Australian batters.

Wicketkeeper Alex Lee Young produced a defiant 57, including a partnership of 55 with Jayden Draper to pull Australia to a defendable total, but it was ultimately not enough.

Opener Osman Sadat led the chase before retiring out on 54, while captain Mahboob Khan finished unbeaten on 34 and wrapped up victory with 12 overs to spare as Afghanistan built plenty of confidence for their opening match against South Africa on Friday.

Sri Lanka edge past South Africa
Sri Lanka continued their positive preparations with a 12-run victory over South Africa, via DLS.

Viran Chamuditha’s impressive knock of 87 helped Sri Lanka set an original target of 226, before that was revised down to 176 from 34 overs after rain affected play.

Chamuditha looked imperious at the crease until he was stopped short of his century, caught and bowled by Enathi Kitshini.

His opening partnership with Dimantha Mahavithana took Sri Lanka to 100 before Mahavithana fell to Daniel Bosman, but a strong knock from Kavija Gamage (48) pushed Sri Lanka onto a total of 225.

South Africa were unable to keep pace with the bat despite the best efforts of captain Muhammed Bulbulia, who hit at over a run a ball for his 54 before falling to Chamuditha.

Lethabo Phahlamohlaka smashed a quickfire 30 off 19 balls but it was not enough despite the revised target, as Sri Lanka cleaned up the tail with three wickets in the final two overs to seal victory.

Scores in brief:

Australia v Afghanistan at Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek
Australia 167 all out in 43.5 overs (Alex Lee Young 57, Will Malajczuk 23; Abdul Aziz 3/30, Nooristani Omarzai 2/6)

Afghanistan 164/4 (rev) in 35.4 overs (Osman Sadat 54, Mahboob Khan 34*; Hayden Schiller 1/12, Aryan Sharma 1/16)

Result: Afghanistan won by six wickets via DLS method

Sri Lanka v South Africa at United Cricket Club, Windhoek
Sri Lanka 225 all out in 48.2 overs (Viran Chamuditha 87, Kavija Gamage 48; Daniel Bosman 3/35, Paul James 2/9)

South Africa 163 all out in 33.3 overs (Muhammed Bulbulia 54, Lethabo Phahlamohlaka 30; Kugathas Mathulan 2/19, Chamika Heenatigala 2/27)

Result: Sri Lanka won by 12 runs via DLS method

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