Dhaka – Despite a narrow loss against Pakistan in the 8-nation Asian Cricket Council Under-19 Asia Cup on Sunday,Bangladesh ended the group phase as champions of Group B champion by virtue of better net run rate as they advanced to the semifinals.Bangladesh will face Group-A runners-up Sri Lanka in the 2nd semifinal in the 50 over game at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo at 3:00pm (Bangladesh time) on Wednesday.All-win Group-A champion India will play against Group-B runners-up Afghanistan in the first semifinal, scheduled to be held at the same venue on Tuesday.The young Tigers started their group campaign with a four-wicket victory against Afghanistan and maintained their winning run with an impressive seven-wicket victory with 270 balls remaining over
Singapore in the 2nd match.In the 3rd and last group match at Galle International Stadium on Sunday, the young Tigers were sent in to bat first and scored 230 all out in 49.5 overs that witnessed Afif Hossain brilliant innings of 80 off 94 balls, including eight boundaries and two over boundaries.Afif was caught by Muhammad Mohsin Khan off Umer Khan bowling to depart from 5th pair where Afif stayed with Mohammad Rakib for a partnership figure of 77 in 14.4 overs that ended at 177/5 in 42.5 overs, starting from 100/4 in 28.1 overs.Scoring 42 off 53 balls, including three boundaries and two sixes,Rakib was caught and bowled by Shaheen Shah Afradi when the team collection was at 217/7 in 47.4 overs.
Skipper-cum-opener Saif Hassan scored 32 off 60 balls, including seven boundaries, while Aminul Islam and Qazi Onik added 14 and 10 runs to be other double figure scorers for Bangladesh.Nasir Nawaz, Umer Khan, Shaheen Shah Afradi and Muhammad Hasnain bagged two wickets each for 11, 32, 50 and 52 runs respectively for Pakistan.Chasing a target of 231, Pakistan reached their destination scoring 233 for 9 in 49.1 overs, by virtue of top-order batsmen stanch,including opener Muhammad Zaid Alam’s half century of 50 runs.
Zaid Alam and Muhammad Mohsin Khan ensured a well start for Pakistan contributing a figure of 86 in 13.3 overs in the opening stand. Zaid Alam faced off 32 balls to fire eight boundaries and one six, before fell victim of run out.Skipper Nasir Nawaz fell short of five runs for a fifty as he was trapped lbw by Shakhawat Hossain bowling to leave the crease at 176/4 in 35.4 overs. He faced 65 balls to fire three boundaries and two over boundaries.Number-5 batsman Ali Zaryab Asif scored 33, while number-3 batsman Abdullah Shafique and opening batsman Muhammad Mohsin Khan added 30 and 29 runs respectively. Saad Khan was another double figure scorer with unbeaten 18 runs in his number-8 position. Delivering 10 overs each, Afif Hossain and Shakhawat Hossainn took two wickets each for 37 and 43 runs respectively. Saif Hassan took one for 46 runs. Points table after group stage:
GROUP A
Teams Mat Won Lost Pts Net Rr
India 3 3 0 15 +2.554
Sri Lanka 3 2 1 9 +0.746
Nepal 3 1 2 4 -0.334
Malaysia 3 0 3 0 -2.817
GROUP B
Teams Mat Won Lost Pts Net Rr
Bangladesh 3 2 1 9 +1.584
Afghanistan 3 2 1 9 +1.425
Pakistan 3 2 1 9 +1.368
Singapore 3 0 3 0 -11.312
