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Zawad Abrar's 96 leads U-19 Tigers to victory in thrilling finish

Sunday, 14 December 2025


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