Bangladesh stun India to retain U-19 Asia Cup
DUBAI: Bowlers produced a stunning performance to give defending champions Bangladesh a stunning 59-run victory over India in the U-19 Asia Cup final here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Chasing 199, India were shot out for 139 in 35.2 overs as all their players failed to make valuable contribution with the bat.
India lost wickets in a flurry on two occasions which broke the back of their chase. They lost openers Vaibhav Suryavanshi (nine) and Ayush Mhatre (one) to stumble to 24 for two inside five overs.
With the final placed precariously, Bangladesh edged ahead by keeping the rest of the Indian batters largely quiet, drying up boundaries and even singles.
C. Andre Siddarth’s (20 off 35 balls) charge was ended by Rizan Hossan in the 12th over, which was another crucial point in the game.
Medium-pacer Iqbal Hossain Emon, who was declared player-of-the-final, claimed the important wickets of K.P. Karthikeya (21), Nikhil Kumar (zero) and Harvansh Pangalia (six) in quick succession.
Indian captain Mohamed Amaan’s 65-ball 26 and Hardik Raj’s late 21-ball 24 proved inadequate. The end came swiftly for India as Azizul Hakim took three wickets for eight runs from his 2.2 overs.
Earlier after Bangladesh were sent in to bat, Rizan Hossain’s 47, Mohammad Shihab James’ 40 and Farid Hasan’s 39 lifted them to a modest total.
Indian bowlers Yudhajit Guha (2-29), Chetan Sharma (2-48) and Raj (2-41) picked up two wickets each.
Bangladesh won last year’s U-19 Asia Cup title at the same venue defeating hosts UAE in the final.
Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2024