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Zawad Abrar's 96 leads Bangladesh Under-19s to victory in thrilling finish

Zawad Abrar's 96 took Bangladesh to victory CREIMAS/ACC

Bangladesh Under-19s 284 for 7 (Abrar 96, Beg 62, Stanikzai 2-46) beat Afghanistan Under-19s 283 for 7 (Shinozada 103, Niazai 44, Shahriar 2-43) by three wickets

With just 48 more runs to get in 45 balls, eight wickets standing, and two set batters at the crease, Bangladesh Under-19s looked set to beat Afghanistan Under-19s rather comfortably in their 284 chase. Although they scored 28 runs in the next four overs, these came at the cost of four wickets. At that stage, Afghanistan sniffed a comeback win.

Earlier in the innings, the Bangladesh openers Zawad Abrar and Rifat Beg had added 151, while captain Azizul Hakim and Kalam Siddiki stitched together a partnership of 66 for the third wicket.

Roohullah Arab got the first breakthrough for Afghanistan, when he dismissed Beg for 62 to end the first-wicket stand in the 27th over. Arab also took Abrar's wicket in the 31st - the batter missed out on a hundred, falling for 96. Although Hakim and Siddiki looked like they were going to make it a one-sided affair, a middle-order collapse threatened to take the win away from Bangladesh. Eventually, though, Rizan Hossan's speedy 17* ensured Bangladesh scraped through in the 49th over with three wickets remaining.

Afghanistan had centurion Faisal Shinozada (103) to thank for putting up a big total. Shinozada put up stands of 66 and 89 for the second and third wicket with Osman Sadat and Uzairullah Niazai, respectively. His knock came in only 94 balls, and included eight fours and four sixes.

Despite a strong start, Afghanistan found themselves at 225 for 7 in the 46th over. Azizullah Miakhil (38*) and Abdul Aziz (26*) provided the finishing kick with an unbroken partnership of 58 in only 28 balls to propel Afghanistan to 283. Eventually, their total proved to not be enough.

BAN Under-19 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st151Rifat BegZawad Abrar
2nd19Azizul HakimZawad Abrar
3rd66Azizul HakimKalam Siddiki
4th13Md Rizan HossanAzizul Hakim
5th14Md Rizan HossanMd Abdullah
6th1Md Rizan HossanSamiun Basir
7th19Sheikh Parvez JibonMd Rizan Hossan
8th1Md Rizan HossanShahriar Ahmed