U19 World Cup 2024

Watch: 16-year-old Afghanistan mystery spinner rips through New Zealand top-order in U19 World Cup low-scoring thriller

by Wisden Staff January 23, 2024 - 11:45am 2 minute read

Watch: 16-year-old Afghanistan mystery spinner Allah Ghazanfar ran through the New Zealand top order during the 2024 U19 World Cup clash between the two sides in East London today (January 23).

Batting first, Afghanistan U19 were bundled out for 91. Fast bowler Matt Rowe picked 5-21 for New Zealand U19 as only two Afghanistan batters got into double digits.

Afghanistan started their defence of the small total with Bashir Ahmed and Ghazanfar. The latter is a right-arm mystery spinner who had also registered his name in the IPL 2023 and 2024 auctions.

He got a wicket in his second over, castling Luke Watson for a duck to hand Afghanistan their first breakthrough. In his very next over, he then removed Tom Jones and Oliver Tewatiya off consecutive deliveries.

Jones was deceived by the drift in the air as played around a ball on middle stump only to get castled. Tewatiya, a left-handed batter, misjudged the direction the ball would turn as he tried to defend a length delivery that pitched well outside off stump and went on with the arm to go through bat and pad and knock his stumps over as well.

New Zealand captain Oscan Jackson came out to face the hat-trick ball and was nearly dismissed as he failed to read the variation that turned away from the right-hander. Luckily for him, the degree of turn was big enough to take the ball past the outside edge of Jackson’s bat.

Ghazanfar bowled an unchanged spell of ten overs with the new ball, giving nothing away and finishing with figures of 10-2-29-3. Afghanistan put up a brilliant fight, taking the match close, but were unable to get over the line as New Zealand U19 won by a wicket in the end.