Scotland's Under 19 cricketers slipped to a narrow three wicket defeat against their Afghanistani counterparts in a relatively low scoring affair at the Sheikh Zayed Nursery Ground in Abu Dhabi.

It had all started so well for the Scots, who batting first after winning the toss, put on a relatively untroubled 59 for the first wicket, with top scorer Andrew Umeed (38) and skipper Ross McLean (23) both batting well.

However after their bright start, Scotland never really took control losing wickets at crucial junctures.

Michael English impressed with a typically stylish 35, and Kyle Stirling also looked solid in his well manufactured 34.

At 158 for 6 with seven overs left, Scotland would have harboured genuine hopes of a total around the 200 mark, but a disastrous passage of play saw them lose their last four wickets with no addition to the score, and they had to settle for a below par 158.

Afghanistan used no fewer than nine bowlers, with two wickets apiece for Muslim Musa (2-18), Hashmatullah Shaida (2-20) abd Zia-ur-Rehman (2-20).

Early wickets from Chayank Gosain and Gavin Main, plus a run out from Nick Farrar put Scotland right back in contention at 30 for 3.

Hashmatullah Shaidi though took the game away with a hard hit 63 from 87 balls (11 fours), sharing vital partnerships.

His dismissal offered Scotland some late hope, but that was quickly extinguished by an unbeaten 33 from Nasir Ahmadzai, which saw his team prevail by three wickets.

Slow left-armer Chayank Gisai n (3-50) was the most successful of the bowlers, with Ryan Brown (1-20), Mark Watt (1-23), and Gavin Main (1-25) the other wicket takers.

Scotland's campaign begins in earnest on Saturday when they take on Papua New Guinea at the ICC Academy Oval in Dubai.