Captain Ihsanullah scored a fine 125-ball 133 in the game against Ireland, and in the match before that against Zimbabwe in India, he had a half-century.
Afghanistan were placed at a precarious 90/3 off 25 overs in their game against Pakistan in the U-19 World Cup, at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
Left-handed Tariq Stanikzai was unbeaten on 42 while keeper Ikram Faizi had made 17.
While Afghanistan may be considered minnows, they sprang surprises in the 2014 tournament by beating Australia and Sri Lanka, and losing to West Indies by only nine runs. Four players from that side are still part of the team, including Ihsanullah Janat, the captain.
According to Wisden, Afghanistan prepared for this tournament with a tri-series in Kolkata, against India and Bangladesh, in which they lost all four matches. However, they then beat Zimbabwe 4-0 in Noida, which the team has used virtually as its adopted home stadium. In their two warm-ups games in Bangladesh thereafter, Afghanistan eased past Ireland by 126 runs, but then lost by a narrow 13-run margin to New Zealand.
Ihsanullah scored a fine 125-ball 133 in the game against Ireland, and in the match before that against Zimbabwe in India, he had a half-century. Zahir Khan, a chinaman bowler, took 5/30 against New Zealand.
Ihsanullah hoped Afghanistan would capitalise on the inexperience of the Pakistan side. "Pakistan have a good team, but all their boys are new players," he said. "It will be difficult for them to play such big matches with new boys.
"We’ll have some benefits because we have some players who already have the experience of playing in this tournament before. It’ll help the team a lot. We’ll try our best. We won’t take anything for granted … it’ll be a good match.”
Pakistan won the U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh back in 2004, and eased past Nepal in the warmups. But they were easily beaten by India, who shot them out for 197 courtesy Khaleel Ahmed's 5/30.
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