Ahead of the Under-19 World Cup, tournament hosts South Africa are currently playing India and Afghanistan Under-19s in a triangular competition. All matches will be played at Old Edwardians Cricket Club A Ground in Johannesburg.

In the first match, Wafiullah Tarakhil and Hassan Eisakhil, Mohammad Nabi’s son, opened the batting for Afghanistan after India captain Uday Saharan won the toss and opted to field. Raj Limbani struck with the third ball of the match, having Tarakhil caught behind.

Jamshid Zadran ran three off the next ball. Eisakhil played out the next delivery, the fifth of the over, before lofting the sixth over the square-leg boundary to get off the mark with a six, evoking memories of his father, still an active member of the senior side.

Eisakhil took particular liking to Arshin Kulkarni, hitting him for three consecutive sixes in the eighth over, and took only 32 balls to bring up his fifty. He eventually fell for a 40-ball 54 with four fours and four sixes.

No.4 Sohail Khan made 71 as well, but Saumy Pandey picked up four wickets in five balls including a hat-trick to dent Afghanistan’s progress. From 85-1, Afghanistan slipped to 95-6 before Sohail lifted them to 197.

At the time of writing, India were 41-1 in seven overs. They need another 157 in 258 balls.

Watch Mohammad Nabi’s son Hassan Eisakhil get off the mark with a six in U19:

What a lovely way t get off the mark for Afghanistan u19 by Hasan Esakhil (Nabi son ) vs India hits a six on the 3rd ball pic.twitter.com/59aOc34PNy

— Sports Production (@SportsProd37) December 29, 2023