Bangladesh's Under-19 cricket team have clinched the 2024 U-19 Asia Cup crown by crushing India by 59 runs in a thrilling final in Dubai on Sunday, reports bdnews24.com.
Chasing a target of 199, India struggled throughout their innings before being all out for 139 in 35.2 overs.
Iqbal Hossain Emon and Md Azizul Hakim Tamim each claimed three wickets to lead the brilliant bowling display.
Emon was adjudged the player of the match for his exceptional bowling in the final as well as the player of the tournament for snaring 13 wickets.
Indian got off to a rocky start, with openers Aryan Mhatre and Vaibhav Suryavanshi falling early. to poor India struggled against disciplined bowling that kept scoring opportunities limited. By the end of the powerplay, they were crawling at 39 for 2 as Maruf Mridha and Al Fahad kept things tight.
India found the going tough and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. After losing their top three batters, the team needed partnerships to put the chase back on track. But they failed to keep a cool head in the middle and scattered running between wickets showed nerves.
Karthikeya KP and captain Mohammed Amaan tried to steady the ship by rotating strikes for singles. But Karthikeya lost his wicket playing a loose shot.
Amaan watched helplessly as Emon and Al Fahad tore through India's middle order. However, Hardik Raj still kept the fight on with a few boundaries,
When Amaan was dismissed after his composed knock, it sealed India's fate as they were in deep trouble with five wickets down and the target far away.
None of their batters could fashion substantial partnerships as Bangladesh stuck to the basics and kept the pressure on the opposition with a brilliant bowling and electric fielding.
India eventually succumbed to the pressure and fell well short of the target.
Earlier, after sent in to bat first, Bangladesh also had a scratchy start, losing both openers early and scoring slowly, thanks to a combined bowling effort from India.
But Mohammad Shihab James (40) and Mohammad Rizan Hossain (47) stitched a 62-run partnership to take their team out of the woods.
India regained the momentum when the Tigers lost two quick wickets.
Bangladesh soon found a savior in Farid Hasan Faysal who chipped in with an invaluable 39.
For India, Yudhajit Guha, Chetan Sharma, and Hardik Raj chipped in with a couple of wickets each while the rest picked one apiece to restrict Bangladesh to 198.
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