Wynne Gray: Afghanis have youngsters in spin

Azmatullah Omarzai takes an Afghanistan team selfie after they beat hosts New Zealand in the Under-19 World Cup quarterfinal. Photo / Getty Images

Mujeeb Zadran and Qais Ahmad. Never heard of them and uncertain what they do?

Their names will be unfamiliar to most Kiwis but the taunting skills of these Afghanistan spinners made a mess of New Zealand's hopes at the under-19 world cricket tournament.

The Kiwis looked like they were stuck in glue and groping with a hockey stick as they crashed out of the event at Hagley Park in Christchurch. As the chaos played out in the middle, the Australians held a nearby net practice to tune up for their semifinal against the winners.

National hopes were for a transtasman match but billboards will now peddle the duel between the Afghan tweakers and Lloyd Pope, the flamin' Aussie who routed England with his leg-spinning tricks.

Pope's control and mix of deliveries brought him 8-35 as he upended England who fell into a storm of quarter-final uncertainty in Queenstown as their chase for victory ended 31 runs short.

It was a fine spell of sustained attacking spin bowling against an uncertain line-up and Zadran and Ahmad created similar mayhem against the poor technique of the Kiwi batsmen.

Limited overs cricket is weighted in favour of the batsmen where bowling restrictions, fielding constraints and pitch conditions push up the odds of guaranteed runs as an attraction for the spectators.

But anyone who saw Pope bedazzle the Poms or Zadran and Ahmad flummox the Kiwis would have got just as much bang for their buck watching them execute their guile. Flight, loop and deception were their weapons as they bamboozled the batsmen.

They hit their lengths and lines and occasionally took some tap from a slog or brave move but they caused as much grief as anyone bowling in the 140km/h range. Bewildered batsmen did not know whether to try and pick the spinners' out of their hand, read them from the track, use their feet or sink deeper in the crease.

Dismissal by doubt was the frequent outcome.

Pope rescued his side with a magnificent lone kill after his batting colleagues struggled to 127 while Zadran and Ahmad's variety of spin was used around each other with the luxury of defending 310 after Afghanistan's consistent striking.

NZ messed up from the start when opener Rachin Ravindra was run out without facing a ball and three other colleagues were back in the hutch inside 20 runs as Zadran spread his magic before Ahmad took over and the rout ended mercifully at 107.

It was entertainment at New Zealand's expense but that high-quality spin bowling is a note about the multiple methods in cricket and work ahead for the country's younger batsmen.