U19 Asia Cup 2026 Opens With Wins For Afghanistan And Sri Lanka

Afghanistan and Sri Lanka took the two points on offer as the U19 Asia Cup 2026 began at Al Amerat on Thursday. Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by 113 runs on Ministry Turf 1. Sri Lanka beat Malaysia by nine wickets on Ministry Turf 2. Both chasing sides were bowled out inside 29 overs.

Group B runs as a single round robin between Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. Two points go to a win. The top two in each group reach the semi-finals.

Rahimi digs Afghanistan out of 58 for 4

Afghanistan chose to bat and lost four wickets for 58. Shah Faisal Rahimi then made 83 from 97 balls, with Tahir Sarwary contributing 37, and the innings closed on 231 in 49 overs. Bangladesh needed 232 and were dismissed for 118 in 25.5 overs. Tafiul Alam Tamim took 4 for 41 and Sami Mubarez 3 for 11. Rahimi was named player of the match.

Bangladesh lost all ten wickets in 155 balls. That is the shortest completed innings any of the four sides produced on the day.

Kumarasinghe's five leaves Malaysia 88 all out

Sri Lanka captain Viran Chamuditha won the toss and bowled. Kaushika Kumarasinghe took 5 for 30 and Vigneshwaran Akash 3 for 7 as Malaysia were dismissed for 88 in 28.1 overs. Syamil Aqil made 51 of those runs, which is 58 per cent of his side's total and the only score above 20 in the innings.

Eight of Malaysia's ten wickets fell to those two bowlers. The rest of the attack took the other two.

Sri Lanka knocked the runs off in 13.5 overs. Rehan Peiris finished 54 not out from 45 balls and Senuja Wekunagoda 30 not out. Kumarasinghe took the match award.

Two grounds, one Omani complex

Both matches were staged at the Oman Cricket Academy in Al Amerat, on adjacent turf squares. Running a four-team group across two pitches at one venue lets the Asian Cricket Council play a full round in a single day and keeps all four squads in one base.

Group A opens on Friday with Pakistan, India, UAE and Nepal. India meet Pakistan on 8 November.

Group B after one round

Afghanistan and Sri Lanka hold two points each. Bangladesh and Malaysia have none, and both now face the two sides that have already won. The remaining Group B fixtures are set.

• 7 November: Afghanistan v Malaysia
• 7 November: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka
• 9 November: Bangladesh v Malaysia
• 9 November: Afghanistan v Sri Lanka

Net run rate will separate sides level on points. Afghanistan needed 49 overs to post 231. Sri Lanka chased 89 in 13.5. That margin puts Sri Lanka ahead of Afghanistan after one round.