An excellent all-round performance from Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie inspired Ireland to a 72-run defeat of Afghanistan at the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

Balbirnie(102) and Lee Nelson (55) added 123 runs for the opening wicket, mixing some aggressive hitting with some good running between the wickets, as Ireland reached 289-7 off 50 overs.

Ben Ackland also displayed his batting talent by making 50 not out off 66 balls, with some aggressive hitting from Stuart Poynter (21 not out off eight balls) helping it set an imposing target.

Afghanistan, who had only arrived on Wednesday afternoon after a long flight from Kabul, showed some promise, with Zakiullah Zaki the pick of the bowlers with 2-41.

In reply, Afghanistan got off to a terrible start as it was reduced to 34-3, before some brave resistance from the middle order helped add respectability to the scorecard. Among the runs were Asgar Hussain (51), Noor ul Haq (49), Aimal Wafa (45) and Zardi Ali (31), with Balbirnie (3-45) and Graham McDonnell (3-31) starring with the ball for Ireland.

Balbirnie was delighted with his side’s performance and its start to the tournament. “We couldn’t ask for a better start. We have had two pretty convincing wins so far and have done well in batting, bowling and fielding departments. I really couldn’t have asked for a better start,” said Balbirnie.

“It was nice to contribute to a win and to score a few runs as well obviously makes me really happy. “With a hard new ball and on a good batting wicket we do go and try and play our shots. It was also a quick outfield.”

The Irish skipper also paid tribute to Afghanistan’s batting line-up who displayed some excellent big hitting, smashing some huge sixes. “They must have been very jetlagged, but I thought that they played quite well. Their bowling is good and their batting is very impressive as well. They really hung in there and did very well despite losing some wickets,” he said.

Thursday’s game involving the USA and Sierra Leone has been awarded to the USA due to Sierra Leone’s failure to fulfill the scheduled fixture. USA will be awarded two points for winning the match.

On Friday, Uganda will play Papua New Guinea at Maple Leaf 2, Ireland faces USA at Maple Leaf 3, Hong Kong takes on Afghanistan at Maple Leaf 4 and Canada will play Netherlands at Malton.