Afghanistan and Nepal had everything to play for in East London on Friday, and play they did, toe-to-toe, inch-for-inch, all the way to a thrilling finish amid gripping drama. Nepal won by one wicket in the end, and entered the Super Six stage of the men’s Under-19 World Cup at the expense of Afghanistan; but the game was, perhaps, more than just the result and the make-up of the next stage of the tournament.

Nepal seemed to have it in the bag at various stages, when first Aakash Chand was running through the Afghanistan batting, and then when Dev Khanal, the captain, was stroking his way to an 89-ball 58. But if there’s one thing Afghanistan don’t do – at any level of the game – it’s to give up. They took it deep, before Subash Bhandari, who had earlier returned 1 for 15 from 8.1 overs, poked at one outside off to the legspin of Arab Gul, got a healthy edge and sent it through a packed off-side field for four. Deal done. The celebrations were as wild as the game itself was.

The win was set up by Chand, later named Player of the Match. By the tenth over, Afghanistan were tottering at 34 for 5 after having opted to bat. Chand had four of those wickets. The fightback came courtesy Hassan Eisakhil (20) and Naseer Khan Maroofkhil (31), and then Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar (37); but all Afghanistan could put up was 145. Chand finished with 5 for 34, his fifth wicket that of Eisakhil.

Nepal’s reply started almost as shakily, with Khalil Ahmed and Faridoon Dawoodzai reducing them to 24 for 3. But a dominant Khanal and a sedate Aakash Tripathi appeared to take the game away from Afghanistan with a 49-run stand, the best of the innings.

A twist had to come, and it came in the form of Maroofkhil sending Tripathi back in the 24th over, with the target still 73 runs away. Khanal wasn’t going anywhere, though, even as a couple more wickets fell at the other end, before being felled by Ghazanfar for 58.

The total then was 127 for 7. Overs were not an issue, but Afghanistan were into Nepal’s tail. Dipak Bohora ensured it wagged enough to take Nepal to within a shot of victory, but he too fell with six runs still to get. The fielders were all around the bat at that stage, and the dot balls piled up; but somehow, in the end, Bhandari found a way out.

Brief scores:
Nepal Under 19s  149 for 9 in 44.4 overs (Dev Khanal 58, Dipak Bohara 27; Faridoon Dawoodzai 3-21, Khalil Ahmed 2-31, Naseer Khan  Maroofkhil 2-28) beatAfghanistan Under 19s 145 in 40.1 overs  (Hassan Eisakhil 20, Naseer Khan Maroofkhil 31, A M Ghazanfar 37, Faridoon Dawoodzai 29;  Akash Chand 5-34, Dipesh Kandel 2-17) by one wicket

Nathan Edward’s all-round performance helped West Indies beat England by two wickets in Potchefstroom and qualify for the Super Six round. He picked up 3 for 28 with his left-arm seam as England folded for 192, and then scored an unbeaten 49 to take his side home.

After West Indies opted to bowl, Nathan Edward castled Jaydn Denly in the first over of the match. England captain Ben McKinney and Noah Thain added 50 for the second wicket, before he sent McKinney back. Thain and Hamza Shaikh,  who scored 54 off 83, took England to 97 for 2 in the 21st over, but once offspinner Tarrique Edward removed Thain, the innings collapsed. At one stage, England were 146 for 7, but the lower order dragged them close to 200.

West Indies, too, lost a wicket in the first over, and were 31 for 2 in the sixth. But their captain Stephan Pascal absorbed all the pressure and scored 58 off 84.

Legspinner Tazeem Chaudry Ali tried to keep England in the contest with his three wickets, including that of Pascal. When West Indies lost their seventh, the target was still 37 runs away, though the asking rate was never a concern.  But Nathan Edward stood up once again with an unbeaten 49 off 80 balls. He added 36 off 32 deliveries with Tarrique Edward, in which the latter’s contribution was 5, before hitting the winning boundary.

Brief scores :
West Indies Under 19s  196 for 8 in 41 overs (Stephan Pascal 58, Nathan Edward 49*, Jordan Johnson 31;  Farhan Ahmed 2-33, Tazeem Chaudry Ali 3-34) beat England Under 19s 192 in 46.3 overs  (Ben McKinney 26, Hamza Shaikh 54, Noah Thain 40;  Nathan Edward 3-28, Isai Thorne 2-40, Raneico Smith 2-28, Taarque Edwards 2-40) by two wickets

Ariful Islam’s 103, followed by a four fer by Mahfuzur Rahmaqn Rabby helped Bangladesh thump USA by 121 runs in Bloemfontein. With two wins in three matches, Bangladesh finished second in their group, and advanced to the Super Six stage of the tournament.

USA had Bangladesh at 94 for 3 after opting to bowl first, but a 122-run fourth-wicket stand between Ariful and Ahrar Amin, who scored 44, took Bangladesh to 291. Ariful notched up nine boundaries, and kept the scoring rate healthy. But left-arm seamer Arya Garg continued his fine form for USA, taking 3 for 68 to finish the competition with five wickets.

USA started the chase steadily, with opener Prannay Chettipalayam scoring 57. But he didn’t find much support from the other end, as USA lost track towards the halfway mark. What was 86 for 1 became 112 for 4, while from the 40th over onwards, they lost 6 for 16 to get bowled out for 170. Left-arm spinner Rabby was the star of the Bangladesh bowling attack, as he got 4 for 31 from ten overs.