Under 19 Tri-Series: Bangladesh thrash clueless Afghanistan to reach the final

Bangladesh will play India in the final

Bangladesh side have booked their place in the final of the tri-series, after comprehensively beating a hapless Afghanistan side by 8 wickets, in the Jadavpur University Campus ground in Kolkata. The Tigers will face the strong Indian side in the final to be played on Sunday.

Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Afghanistan’s middle order were left clueless, as they went from 34/0 to 49/6, rather quickly. With the lower order too failing to contribute, they were bowled for a mere 99, in under 27 overs of play.

Saeed Sarkar was the star of the Bangladeshi bowlers with figures of 2.2-0-6-3, and he was equally supported by Saleh Ahmed Gazi, who also picked up 3 wickets. Tariq Stanikzai was the top-scorer for Afghanistan with 27, and the second highest score being 16 by opener Hazratullah.

Chasing the modest total, Bangladesh were reduced to 29/2, before Mohammad Najmul Shanto and Mohammad Mehedi Miraz made sure that the Tigers did not lose any more wickets in the middle, and rather comfortably drove their team to the final.

The result of the tie was rather expected, as Bangladesh had earlier beaten the same opponents by 4 wickets, chasing Afghanistan’s low target of 85. This time around, they denied their opponents any chance to come back, as they wrapped up the game in a little over 4 hours time.

Bangladesh now have 10 points from 4 games and are through to the finals, where they will meet hosts India. India are also likely to finish on top of the points table, with one match remaining, having already earned 13 points from three games thus far.

Brief Scores:

Bangladesh 101/2 in 24.3 overs beat Afghanistan 99 in 26.2 overs, by 8 wickets. 
Points: Bangladesh Under-19 5. Afghanistan Under-19 0.