India edge Bangladesh to win U19 Asia Cup

COLOMBO: India beat Bangladesh by five runs to win the 2019 ACC U19 Asia Cup at the RPS Stadium in Colombo on Saturday.

This was India’s seventh triumph in the continental tournament for junior cricketers. Both the semi-finals, scheduled on Thursday, had been washed out. India and Bangladesh made the final at the expense of Sri Lanka and Afghanistan after finishing on top of their respective groups.

Only three Indian batsmen managed to reach double-digit scores. Captain Dhruv Jurel and all-rounder Karan Lal made 33 and 37 respectively to take India to 106. Pacer Mrittunjoy Chowdhury and off-spinner Shamim Hossain picked up three wickets each as India were bowled out in 32.4 overs.

In the run-chase, Bang-ladesh struggled too at 16-4 as left-arm fast bowler Akash Singh claimed three of the first four wickets. Skipper Akbar Ali steadied the ship, along with Mrittunjoy, but there was a minor rain delay in the game when Bangladesh was on 78-6 in 19.4 overs. However, no overs were lost.

India conceded 18 extra runs. Immediately after the restart, both the set batsmen threw away their wickets after playing poor shots. A ninth-wicket partnership between Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Rakibul Hasan threatened to take the game away from India but orthodox bowler Atharva Ankolekar held his nerve to hand the defending champions the victory once again.