Monitoring Desk
QUEENSTOWN: Pakistan on Thursday secured a podium finish at the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup despite their third-and-fourth-place match with Afghanistan getting abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Heavy rain in New Zealand’s Queenstown meant that no play was possible. The final placement was then decided after taking into account the two teams’ standings in their group as well as their net run-rates (NRR). Pakistan and Afghanistan had both won two games and lost one, and had both qualified from Group D.
The Boys in Green had, however, topped the group, thanks to their better NRR — an edge that landed them the third spot in the tournament’s final standings. Despite their troubles with the bat, Pakistan — powered by their impressive bowling attack — had fared reasonably well during the tournament until they squared up to arch-rivals India in the semi-finals.
That game saw Pakistan’s batting and mental fragility exposed yet again as they lost to India by a massive 203 runs. The tournament’s final will be played between India and Australia on Saturday at Bay Oval.
