Bangladesh beat India to clinch maiden U19 World Cup

A resilient innings from skipper Akbar Ali took Bangladesh Under-19 team to their maiden championship title in the ICC Under-19 World Cup after they defeated India by three wickets in a nail-biting final at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom in South Africa on Sunday.

The junior Tigers reached 170-7 in 42.1 overs, thanks largely to an unbeaten 43 from Akbar, who along with Rakibul Hasan (nine) shepherded the side to a win after the middle order nearly threw away the game chasing a modest target of 178 runs.

Akbar had opener Parvez Hossain to thank after he defied a hamstring injury to score 47 runs and put a valuable 41 runs partnership for the seventh wicket, helping the side recover from 85-5.

Earlier opening the innings, Parvez and Tanzid Hossain assembled 50 runs in the opening partnership to put the junior Tigers firmly in command.

But leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi reigned terror with a mesmerizing spell of six-over that nearly earned India their successive title.

The junior Tigers were nearly made to pay for their injudicious batting chasing the small target as Bishnoi dismissed Tanzid (17), Mahmudul Hasan (eight), Towhid Hridoy (0) and Shahadat Hossain (one).

Shamim Hossain and Avishek Das did no justice to the team’s cause by falling for seven and five respectively before Akbar and Parvez, who resumed his innings after being forced to retire in the 13th over, stemmed the rot.

Yashasvi Jaiswal ended Parvez’s valiant knock to give India a chance to claw their way back into the contest. But a cool and composed Akbar denied them further success.

Rain suspended the play when Bangladesh needed 15 runs from nine overs with three wickets still in hand.

The junior Tigers were given a revised target of seven runs in five overs which they achieved without further hiccup.

Rakib hit Atharva Ankolekar for a single as Bangladesh reached their revised target to complete the historic feat.

Earlier, the pace trio of Avishek Das (3-40), Tanzim Hasan (2-28) and Shoriful Islam (2-31) set up the win for Bangladesh, by bundling out India for 177 in 47.2 overs.

Jaiswal, who was named the player of the tournament for his 400 runs and three wickets, staged a lone battle with valiant 88 runs but Bangladesh bowlers were always on top from the moment skipper Akbar won the toss and elected to bowl first. 

Shoriful and Tanzim shook the Indian openers with an aggressive opening spell, where they conceded only eight runs off six overs.

Avishek, who was a surprise inclusion in the Bangladesh team having played only one match in the tournament prior to the final, reaped the reward of their hardship, removing opener Divyaansh Saxena for two in the seventh over.

Jaiswal then consolidated the innings with a 94-run stand off 134 balls for the second wicket with Tilak Varma (38).

Tanzim broke the stand by removing Tilak in the 29th over, with Shoriful completing a difficult catch at the point boundary with the score on 103-2.

India were still trotting towards a competitive total, with Jaiswal at the helm, but Shoriful dismissed Jaiswal and Siddhesh Veer (0) in consecutive deliveries to reduce them to 156-5 in 40 overs as India lost their last five wickets for 21 runs.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net