India U19 vs Afghanistan U19 Highlights: Aaron George’s Century Powers 311-Run Chase, India Reach Final
Team India reached the final of the ICC Men’s U19 World Cup 2026 after defeating Afghanistan by 7 wickets. Chasing a tough target of 311 runs in Harare, the Indian team played with confidence and won the match comfortably. A historic chase for the Indian side as this is the highest a team has successfully chased in a knockout encounter of the U19 World Cup and also India's highest chase in a Youth ODI. Aaron George's 115 off 104 deliveries alongside Vaibhav Suryavanshi's destructive 68 in 33 balls helped set the base for India.
Historic Chase Sends Team India into Final as Aaron George (115) & Vaibhav Suryavanshi (68) Star in 311-Run Win
Earlier Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first. Magnificent knocks from Faisal Shinozada (110 off 93) and Uzairullah Niazai (101* off 86) helped them romp 310/4. Kanishk Chouhan (2/55) and Deepesh Devendran (2/64) the only successful bowlers for India.
The response from the Indians was terrific as the opening pair of Aaron-Vaibhav added 90 for the first wicket in just 9.3 overs. Vaibhav was dropped once on 22 by Niazai off pacer Abdul Aziz at backward point, Aaron also survived a dropped chance on 20 when Wahidullah Zadran put one chance down off Nooristani Omarzai.
The first powerplay yielded 91 runs for the loss of Suryavanshi who perished against the bouncer delivered by Omarzai but not before entertaining the crowd with 9 fours and 4 maximums. Skipper Ayush Mhatre who is short of runs in the tournament so far found runs under his belt hammering 5 fours and 4 sixes with minimal footwork to deposit 62 in 59 balls.
It was Omarzai again who broke the 2nd wicket 114-run stand dismissing the Indian skipper in the 27th over. Aaron paced his knock well moving to 50 in 52 balls and 100 in 95 balls before spinner Wahidullah Zadran had him caught off a late cut at backward point for 115 in the 49th over. Vihaan Malhotra promoted at number 4 remained unbeaten on 38 in 47 deliveries with Vedant Trivedi adding 5 in 6 balls. Omarzai with 2/64 was the pick of the bowlers with Wahidullah claiming 1/67 in 7.1 overs after he was taken apart in the first powerplay taking the new ball.