Bangladesh Under-19 team moved to the semi-finals of the Men's Junior Asia Cup after beating Nepal by five wickets at Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates Sunday.
This was Bangladesh’s second straight victory, having beaten Afghanistan by 45 runs in the first match.
After losing to Bangladesh, the Afghans also suffered a 131-run defeat to Sri Lanka, which eventually ensured the semi-final berth of the Lankans too, alongside Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh-Sri Lanka match Tuesday now will just determine who will become the group champions.
Bangladesh’s victory looked imminent when they bowled Nepal out for just 141 in 45.4 overs.
But the junior Tigers faced hiccups along the way before reaching the target in 28.4 overs, thanks to unwavering resolve of captain Azizul Hakim Tamim.
Opener Zawad Abrar made team-best 59 while Tamim, who hit a century against Afghanistan, continued his rich vein of form with an unbeaten 52.
Thanks to their half-centuries, Bangladesh avoided a potential upset as the other batters failed to come up with the goods.
The third-best was 13 which came from the willow of Farid Hasan.
All other batsmen were dismissed in single-digit figure.
Bangladesh lost opener Kalam Siddiki for a duck before Abrar and Tamim combined for a 90-run partnership for the second wicket.
Despite Abrar’s dismissal, Bangladesh looked to chase down the target with ease.
But thereafter they experienced a mini-collapse before Tamim steered the side through the torrid period and to their destination.
Yuvraj Khatri snapped up 4/23 for Nepal to wreck havoc on Bangladesh’s middle-order.
Al Fahad, Iqbal Hossain Emon and Rizan Hasan scalped two wickets apiece to rip through Nepal, after Bangladesh asked them to bat first.
Opener Akash Tripathi was the highest scorer with 43 while Uttam Magar and Abhishek Tiwari made identical 29.
5TH MATCH
Nepal U-19 141 in 45.4 overs (Tripathi 43, Rizan 2/8) lost to Bangladesh U-19 142/5 in 28.4 overs (Abrar 59, Hakim 52*) by 5 wickets