Under 19 World Cup: England Defeated Afghanistan To Reach The Finals

England reached their first U-19 World Cup finals in 24 years

England reached their first U-19 World Cup finals after 24 years. England defeated Afghanistan by 15 runs to confirm their tickets to the finals of the tournament.

England won the toss and decided to bat first in overcast conditions at Sir Viv Richards Stadium in Antigua.

Afghanistan made a stronger start with the ball as Jacob Bethell, who lit up the quarter-final tie with 88 against South Africa last week, was trapped LBW by Naveed Zadran, an early sign that England faced a difficult task.

Captain Tom Prest and George Thomas led the recovery from that early setback, with runs coming fast against Afghanistan’s medium pacers and the pair took their side to 56 runs in the power play before Prest fell for a quickfire 17.

Thomas, later on, scored his maiden half-century which featured 2 sixes and 4 fours. Afghanistan spinners bowled brilliantly during the semi-finals.

However, the rain came again to delay play for a further half-hour and led to revised conditions of 47 overs per side.

England's back-end partnership of 95 from George Bell and Alex Horton then managed to put a different dynamic on their innings.

The duo attacked the Afghanistan seamers fiercely which managed to top the final total up to 231.

The earlier interruptions from the weather meant Afghanistan had a revised DLS target to match this score and chasing their first-ever ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup final, they knew a good start was needed to seize control of the game.

Opener Nangeyalia Kharote was unable to provide it when English seamer Josh Boyden claimed his wicket with just the third ball of the innings.

But Kharote's replacement, Allah Noor, smashed a huge six to get off the mark and quickly gave his team a platform.

The 18-year-old produced a marvellous knock, which featured eight boundaries as the momentum of the semi swung back Afghanistan's way.

Along with wicketkeeper Mohammad Ishaq, the pair got their team past 90, with Noor making a valuable half-century.

England's crucial breakthrough came after some wonderful fielding led to a run-out for Ishaq with wicketkeeper Horton reacting quickly to a loose throw at the striker's end.

Noor remained stubborn but eventually went for 60, with Thomas Aspinwall claiming a vital wicket.

That set up a frantic finish that could have gone either way.

The 44th over for England appeared to have turned the game when two no-balls in-a-row gifted their opponents eight runs, before Abdul Hadi (37 no) smashed a huge six to take them to 200 and tantalizing close.

But Ahmed's late flurry and a nerveless final over from Boyden carried England over the line to their first ICC U19 Men's Cricket World Cup final since 1998 in South Africa, when they lifted the trophy.

England will face the winner of the match played between India and Australia on Saturday.