Indian, Afghan cricketers descend on Wollongong for ACL championships

Teams representing India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, New Zealand and Australia took part in the second annual championships held at North Dalton Park.

For the record the Australian Kangaroos won the event for a second straight year, beating a gallant Afghanistan Eagles in the final on Thursday afternoon.

The Eagles batted first and were bowled out for 130. Their No 3 batter Jake Smith scored the bulk of the Eagles' runs, smashing 70 runs from just 59 balls.

Tanishk Chetan, Lagan Sandhu and Bayly Stawiarz snared two wickets each for Australia.

Australia lost just one wicket and needed just 15.1 overs to reply with 1/133 to win by nine-wickets.

Lewis Morell (55) and Chetan (37) were not out when the game finished.

Afghanistan captain Zaki Mirranay was very happy despite the loss.

"It's been a great experience. The boys have learned a lot throughout the tournament," he told the Mercury.

"I feel very privileged to represent my country. We've done our country proud."

Indian captain Puyush Kant Banotra was also ecstatic at the opportunity to play against some of the best young cricketers in the world.

"It's been a very competitive tournament. We unfortunately lost all three of our games but it was a great learning experience," he said.

"The chance to play against great players in foreign playing conditions was a golden opportunity for us. It really was wonderful.

"I want to thank the organising committee and everyone involved in putting this tournament on for doing such a great job."