ICC U19 World Cup 2020: Bangladesh upset favourites India to lift maiden U19 World Cup
Scorecard:
India: 177 all-out (47.2 overs)
Yashasvi Jaiswal 88 (121), Tilak Verma 38 (65); Avishek Das 3/40
Bangladesh: 170-7 (42.1 overs)
Parvez Hossain Emon 47 (79), Akbar Ali 43* (77); Ravi Bishnoi 4/30
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It is a golden day in the history of Bangladesh cricket as their under-19 team managed to beat favourites India in the final by three wickets to lift their maiden U19 World Cup title. In a high-pressure game, the Bangla Tigers were able to hold their nerve better towards the closing stages.
Chasing 178 runs to win, Bangladesh got off to a fantastic start as openers Parvez Hossain Emon and Tanzid Hasan added fifty runs for the first wicket. But Ravi Bishnoi turned the game on its head by picking up four quick wickets and getting India back in it.
Skipper Akbar Ali then played a defining knock and remained unbeaten in the end along with Rakibul Hasan, as Bangladesh chased down the rain-revised target of 170 with three wickets to spare.
Earlier, India were put in to bat by Bangladesh. The new ball pair of Shoriful Islam and Tanzim Hasan bowled fantastic lines and lengths to restrict India to just 23-1 in the first 10 overs. After losing Divyansh Saxena early, in-form opener Yashasvi Jaiswal paired with Tilak Verma and tried to consolidate the Indian innings.
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Yashasvi Jaiswal continues his fine form
The Bangladesh bowlers were right on the money from ball one and didn't let the Indian batsmen pounce on anything loose. However, Jaiswal knew that he had to absorb the pressure and that is exactly what he did.
After negotiating the opening spell, Jaiswal began to play his shots and he got able support from Verma and wicket keeper Dhruv Jurel. Jaiswal went on to score 88 runs in 121 balls to give India hope of reaching a total in the range of 250.
The major batting collapse
But while Jaiswal kept one end ticking, wickets kept falling from the other end. After losing Tilak Verma and skipper Priyam Garg in quick succession, Jaiswal and all-rounder Siddhesh Veer were dismissed off consecutive balls.
This triggered a panic in the Indian camp; instead of staying calm and trying to weather the storm, they lost their heads. The last thing they needed was some needless running, but that occurred too as India lost their last seven wickets for just 19 runs.
The batting collapse was barely believable; the side went from being 156-3 to 177 all-out, handing Bangladesh a modest target of 178.
Ravi Bishnoi's spell brings India back into the game
After racing away to 50-0, Bangladesh seemed to be cruising towards their maiden U19 World Cup. But Ravi Bishnoi had a dangerous spell up his sleeve that Bangladesh were unable to handle.
Bishnoi first got the opener Tanzid Hasan caught at long-on to break the opening partnership. The next three wickets fell in quick succession, and Bangladesh were soon reduced to 65-4 - with Bishnoi claiming all four wickets.
He ended up with figures of 4-30 from his 10 overs and played the most important role in keeping India in the game.
Akbar Ali holds his nerve to help Bangladesh win
Bangladesh were in all sorts of trouble at 102-6 and India looked outright favourties to win the game. But then out walked opener Parvez Hossain Emon, who had retired hurt earlier due to cramps.
Fighting through the pain, Emon scored 47 runs and proved to be a vital partner for skipper Akbar Ali. After Emon was dismissed, Ali did not panic; instead, along with Rakibul Hasan, he took the game forward.
Ali scored an unbeaten 43 while Hasan smashed the winning runs to help Bangladesh script a famous victory.