Australia, England and Afghanistan claim first wins at U19WC

Broadcast details for ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup

Afghanistan registered an inspiring 28-run win over South Africa in Group D to move level on points with West Indies as England beat Pakistan to begin their ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup campaign.

Australia commenced their title defence in style with a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Ireland.

Here’s a look at how every match on Day 2 of the global event panned out:

Australia beat Ireland by eight wickets

The defending champions eased to an eight-wicket win over Ireland in their first match of the ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup at Windhoek in Namibia on Friday.

Riding on a superb hundred from Steve Hogan, Australia opened their title defence with two points.

Australia put Ireland in after winning the toss as they kept chipping in with wickets at regular intervals. Freddie Ogilby (49) and Robert O’Brien (79) offered resistance but the four-time winners didn't allow the Irish innings to gain momentum.

Led by Charles Lachmund who bagged three wickets while conceding just 41 runs in his 10 overs, Australia managed to restrict Ireland to 235/7 in their 50 overs.

Will Malajczuk and Nitesh Samuel got Australia off to a flier and although the former’s early charge lasted only 12 deliveries, the opening pair provided the platform for Hogan to come in and dominate proceedings.

Samuel anchored the innings allowing Hogan to be the aggressor as they duo stitched together a stellar 186-run stand to propel the defending champions within touching distance of a victory.

Samuel carried his bat through to take Australia home and hand them their first win of the tournament.

Australia return to action for their second game against Japan on Tuesday while Ireland take on Sri Lanka on Monday. Both matches will be held at the Namibia Cricket ground in Windhoek.

England beat Pakistan by 37 runs

England defeated Pakistan to begin their ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup campaign with a win.

Defending a low-score of 210, the English bowlers produced a disciplined display to restrict Pakistan to 173.

England were asked to bat first by Pakistan and couldn’t get going with Pakistan making inroads at crucial junctures. With England in a spot of bother at 90/4 in the 19th over, Caleb Falconer and Ralphie Albert put together a 80-run partnership to resurrect the innings.

However, the Pakistan bowlers quickly tightened the screws after breaking the partnership to bowl England out for 210. Ahmed Hussain grabbed three wickets while Ali Raza, Abdul Subhan and Momin Qamar snapped two wickets each.

England came out all guns blazing with the ball to dismiss the Pakistan top order leaving the 2006 winners reeling at 28/3.

Skipper Farhan Yousaf led the counter-attack for Pakistan scoring 65 runs but lost partners at the other end at regular intervals.

The English bowlers kept the pressure on the Pakistan batters, not allowing any partnership to blossom.

With the required run-rate shooting, the English bowlers applied the choke to wrap up the Pakistan innings and pick up a crucial win in Group B.

England next face hosts Zimbabwe on Sunday while Pakistan take on Scotland on Monday with both games set to take place at the Takashinga Sports Club in Harare.

Afghanistan beat South Africa by 28 runs

Afghanistan recorded a memorable 28-run win over South Africa at the High Performance Oval in Widhoek, Namibia to make a winning start to their campaign.

After being asked to bat first, Afghanistan made a brisk start to the game. Despite losing Osman Sadat early, Khalid Ahmadzai and Faisal Khan took charge of the situation and posted a 152-run stand that gave Afghanistan a solid platform to put a big total on the board.

But South Africa fought back picking up four wickets for just five runs to change the complexion of the game. Afghanistan, through Uzairullah Niazai and Nooristani Omarzai, revived the innings taking them to 266/8 at the end of their 50 overs.

Afghanistan were sharp on the field as they inflicted two run outs inside the first 14 overs to have the Proteas at 49/3.

But the early wickets didn’t seem to have any effect on Jason Rowles who led the counter charge for South Africa. Afghanistan broke the 60-run stand between Rowles and Armaan Manack as the latter was dismissed by Hafieez Zadran.

The game truly turned in Afghanistan’s favour when Rowles was run out two runs short of his century with South Africa still needing 78 runs in less than ten overs.

Daniel Bosman and Cornelius Botha stitched a late partnership that threatened to bring the Proteas back in the contest but Khatir Stanikzai and Omarzai got rid of the two batters before a fourth run out of the innings saw Afghanistan bowl out South Africa for 238 and record an enthralling victory.

The Proteas face Tanzania next on Monday while Afghanistan take on the West Indies on Sunday.