Afghanistan’s late arrival in the Caribbean had forced the ICC to rework the fixtures of their group matches but the team, with their magnificent run to the semi-finals of U-19 World Cup, ensured the tweaking by the apex body was worth it, even if it meant rescheduling as many as four matches.

Accustomed to dealing with issues far removed from cricket, the battle-hardened Afghanistan team will chase history on Tuesday, in a sport that has often been a soothing balm for the country’s battered soul.

Having punched above their weight, they now face England in the Super League semi-finals of the U-19 showpiece at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, an appropriate setting for those seeking inspiration for doing things in cricket which only the man after whom the venue is named could do in his heydays.

Afghanistan will create history if they are able to beat fancied England, for they have never been to the final of the U-19 World Cup.

If their entry into the tournament was not bereft of drama, thanks to visa-related issues, no less dramatic was their march to the last-four stage.

The odds were heavily stacked against them when they posted just 134 on board after Sri Lanka asked them to take first strike in their quarter-final match but Afghanistan produced a superb performance with the ball to bundle out the island nation for 130 in 46 overs at Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua.

Before that, having obtained the necessary permission to travel to the West Indies, Afghanistan won all three matches in the group stage. It is only the second time, the first being the 2018 edition in New Zealand, that Afghanistan have made it to the Super League semi-finals of the U-19 World Cup.

However, England will undoubtedly be their biggest challenge. England are widely known for their batting depth in white-ball cricket.