(MENAFN - Pajhwok Afghan News) KABUL (Pajhwok): Afghanistan finished fourth in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2018 after their third place play-off fixture with Pakistan was called off in New Zealand due to heavy raining.

Afghanistan and Pakistan lost their respective semifinals to Australia and India in the 16-nation tournament in New Zealand.

The two teams were expected to lock horns in the third place play-off fixture of the World Cup in Queenstown on Thursday (February 1), but the fixture was called off due to heavy downpour.

Afghanistan slipped to a six-wicket defeat versus Australia while India walloped their arch-rivals, Pakistan, by 203 runs in the other semifinal.

Playing with a sense of adventure, Afghanistan overcome fancied sides like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

Spin duo Mujeeb Zadran and Qais Ahmad breezed through the Kiwis batting line-up to secure a massive 202-run win in the quarterfinals. Qais, the legspinner, was also the leading wicket-taker with 14 scalps.

Good performances in batting were showed by Ikram Ali Khil (185), Darwish Rasooli (155), Ibrahim Zadran (186), and Bahir Shah (108).

Placed in Group D, Afghanistan and Pakistan finished fourth and third in the tournament.

Afghanistan defeated Pakistan in their opener match, but Pakistan topped the group after Afghanistan suffered a surprise defeat against Ireland in their last group match.

Afghanistan had secured ninth position in last year€™s U19 World Cup.

International cricket observers and 2018 World Cup authorities have appreciated the achievements and talent of the Afghanistan U-19 national team.

Rahim Gul Sarwan, a cricket analyst, said the Afghanistan U-19 side showed €˜very well performance€™ in their matches and they defeated stronger teams than themselves.

He said Afghanistan had several times defeated their Pakistani rivals and kept high pressure on Pakistani team.

After Afghanistan were defeated by Australia in the semi finals, Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) chairman, Atif Mashal, tweeted they still proud of their team. Reaching the semifinals was also a great achievement for Afghanistan, he had said.

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