Bangla Dash hopes

Potchefstroom, February 9

A sprightly bunch of Bangladesh boys created history by winning their country’s first global cricket title, shocking defending champions India by three wickets in the summit clash of the ICC U-19 World Cup.

In a low-scoring final, Bangladesh first choked India to a meagre 177 in 47.2 overs and then did well to achieve the revised target of 170 in 42.1 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

Once play resumed after rain, the target was revised to 170 and with seven runs to get and three wickets in hand, it became a cakewalk for Bangladesh colts.

Bangladesh’s 18-year-old captain Akbar Ali showed nerves of steel with a patient 43* off 77 balls, which negated Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 88 off 121 balls. Akbar batted responsibly, seeing out leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi and fast bowler Kartik Tyagi’s spells before crossing the finish line with ease. While batting, India lost their last seven wickets for 23 runs. And, while defending, the number of extras (33) bowled did matter in the final context of the game.

Bangladesh openers Parvez Hossain Emon (47) and Tanzid Hasan (17) added 50 runs in quick time. However, things changed once leg-spinner Bishnoi (4/30) started bowling his googlies. First, he got Hasan holed out in the deep and then had Mahmudul Hassan Joy (8) played-on with another wrong one. Towhid Hridoy was rapped on the pads and wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel effected a smart stumping to make it 65/4. With Emon back in the hut due to a hamstring injury, it was up to skipper Akbar to show composure in the hour of crisis even as left-arm seamer Sushant Singh got a couple of wickets in his second and third spells. At 102/6, Emon again came back and fought gamely before Jaiswal bowled his part-time leg-breaks and Garg’s gamble paid off with the opener being caught in the extra cover region to make it 143/7.

Indian batsmen wilt

Earlier, India’s batting wilted under pressure as Bangladesh bundled out the defending champions for 177 in 47.2 overs. Jaiswal (88) was once again the standout performer but not for once did he look like dominating the Bangladesh bowling unit, whose new-ball bowlers Shoriful Islam (2/31) and Tanzim Hasan Shakib (2/28) literally stifled the Indians for runs. — PTI

Highlights

3 RD Player —Yashasvi Jaiswal — to score five half-centuries in an U-19 World Cup, equalling Australia’s Brett Williams (1988) and India’s Sarfaraz Khan’s (2016) feat.

“It’s a bad day, but our boys fought really well. Even with such a low total, we made it difficult for them, and I would like to thank my team for that. The biggest factor was the toss, because the wicket was a bit damp. We had a good start, and we should have got to at least 210-220. That would have been a much better score” 

— Priyam Garg, India U-19 captain

Scoreboard

India U-19

• Y Jaiswal c Tanzid b Shoriful 88
• D Saxena c Joy b Das 2
• N Tilak Varma c Shoriful b Sakib 38
• P Garg c Tanzid b Rakibul 7
• D Jurel run out 22
• S Veer lbw b Shoriful 0
• A Ankolekar b Das 3
• R Bishnoi run out 2
• S Mishra c Shoriful b Sakib 3
• K Tyagi c Akbar b Das 0
• A Singh not out 1

Extras: (lb-1, w-10) 11

Total: (All out in 47.2 overs) 177

FOW: 1-9, 2-103, 3-114, 4-156, 5-156, 6-168, 7-170, 8-170, 9-172

Bowling

• Shoriful Islam 10-1-31-2
• Tanzim Hasan Sakib 8.2-2-28-2
• Avishek Das 9-0-40-3
• Shamim Hossain 6-0-36-0
• Rakibul Hasan 10-1-29-1
• Towhid Hridoy 4-0-12-0

Bangladesh U-19

Revised target: 170 from 46 overs

• PH Emon c Akash b Jaiswal 47
• T Hasan c Tyagi b Bishnoi 17
• MH Joy b Bishnoi 8
• T Hridoy lbw b Bishnoi 0
• S Hossain st Jurel b Bishnoi 1
• Akbar Ali not out 42
• S Hossain c Jaiswal b Mishra 7
• A Das c Tyagi b Mishra 5
• R Hasan not out 3

Extras: (b-8, lb-4, nb-2, w-19) 33

Total: (7 wickets, 42.1 overs) 170

FOW: 1-50, 2-62, 3-62, 4-65, 5-85,

6-102, 7-143

Bowling

• Kartik Tyagi 10-2-33-0
• Sushant Mishra 7-0-25-2
• Akash Singh 8-1-33-0
• Ravi Bishnoi 10-3-30-4
• Atharva Ankolekar 4.1-0-22-0
• Yashasvi Jaiswal 3-0-15-1

Player of the Match: Akbar Ali

Player of the Series: Yashasvi Jaiswal