U19 World Cup: Non-striker run-out the last wicket in thrilling New Zealand-Afghanistan clash

Dubai: There was excitement and tension in the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2024 match between New Zealand and Afghanistan at Buffalo Park on Tuesday, especially in the dying moments of the match when Naseer Khan’s late run out of Kiwi non-striker Ewald Schreuder gave Afghanistan some hope of defending a total of just 91.

Chasing just 92 for victory, New Zealand scrambled to 90/8 after the Afghanistan bowlers, led by Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar (3/29), gave them a difficult time.

With two runs needed and two wickets left, Naseer Khan ran in to bowl the first ball of his fifth over but stopped before delivering to turn around and run out Schreuder.

The non-striker had taken a couple of steps outside the crease, allowing Naseer Khan to pull off the dismissal and put Afghanistan a wicket away from a win.

“It is in the rules and that’s why I did it,” Naseer Khan said after the match, when asked about the run out.

The Afghanistan captain also noted that Schreuder was leaving the non-striker’s crease “every ball” before the dismissal.

New Zealand beat Afghanistan by one wicket in a thrilling game in East London

Despite the late wicket, Matt Rowe – who had shone with five wickets in 16 balls in the first innings – hit the winning runs off the next ball to take New Zealand home in what was a thrilling one-wicket win.

Rowe, who won the Aramco Player of the Match award, was pragmatic on the dismissal when asked post-match, saying: “Well I guess cricket’s cricket and what’s going to happen is going to happen. So, oh well.”

This wasn’t the first instance of a non-striker run-out in the U19 World Cup.

In the 2016 edition in Bangladesh, West Indies bowler Keemo Paul ran out Zimbabwe’s last man Richard Ngarava at the non-striker’s end to clinch a thrilling two-run win for his side.

In 2020, Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad dismissed Pakistan Muhammad Hurraira at the non-striker’s and more recently, in the inaugural U19 Women’s World Cup last year, Pakistan’s Zaib-Un-Nisa dismissed Rwanda’s Shakila Niyomuhoza with this mode of dismissal.

–IANS