Dhaka — Bangladesh Men’s cricket team (U-23) outplayed minnows Maldives in their first game of the ongoing 13th South Asian Games (SA Games) by 109 runs on Wednesday at Kirtipur, Nepal.
Bangladesh batted first after winning the toss and posted a big total of 174 runs in 20 overs for four wickets.
Mohammad Naim and Soumya Sarkar added 59 runs in the opening partnership, and it was a good foundation for the Tigers. Naim fell for 38 off 28 balls while Soumya posted 46 off 33 with four fours and two sixes.
Najmul Hossain Shanto was the highest sorcerer in the match as he scored 49 off 38 with one four and three sixes. Apart from it, Afif Hossain and Yasir Ali posted 16 and 12 runs respectively.
Ibrahim Hasan, Azyan Farhath and Mohamed Mahfooz bagged one wicket each for the Maldives.
In reply, the Maldives team was wrapped in for 65 runs all-out in 19.2 overs. Ahmed Hasan and Ali Ivan- Maldives openers- posted 10 and 12 respectively while none of their other batsmen reached a double-digit score in the game.
Left-arm slow bowler Tanvir Islam bagged five wickets for Bangladesh conceding 19 runs in 4 overs while Minhajul Abedin Afridi and Afif Hossain took two wickets each as well.
Eventually, Bangladesh won the game by 109 runs. They will face Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka (U-23) in their next three games which will take place on December 6, 7 and 8 respectively.
Earlier on the day, Bangladesh Women’s cricket team beat Nepal by 10 wickets and put a big step forward to the final.UNB
