Bangladesh U-19 secure second win in Asia Cup

|| CF DESK ||

Mahfijul Islam’s ton and Ripon Mondol's effort with the ball guided Bangladesh U-19 to 222 runs triumph over Kuwait U-19 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Opener, Mahfijul smashed 112 off 119 deliveries which included 12 fours and 4 sixes and Ripon was the pick of the bowling attack with 3 wickets in his 8 overs.

Chasing 292, Kuwait found themselves in deep trouble 7-3 as the top-order was dismantled by the bowlers during the first powerplay.

Meet Bhavsar, top-scored with 43 runs off 77 balls and Mirza Ahmed scored 11 while no other batter could cross the double-figure. They continued to lose wickets in quick succession and eventually skittled on 69 before in 25.3 overs, falling short of 222 runs.

Apart from Ripon, SM Meherob, skipper Rakibul Hasan took a couple of wickets each for Bangladesh U-19.

Earlier, Bangladesh posted 291 runs in 49.2 overs after being invited to bat first. After the early dismissal of Iftakher Hossain (2), Mahfijul headed the team from the front and added 84 runs with Aich Mollah for the second wicket stand.

Meanwhile, Ariful Islam and Tahjibul Islam played brief innings of 23 and 25 runs respectively. Last match hero Pratik Nawrose Nabil, who hit a century against Nepal U-19 fell early on 5 runs being trapped in LBW.

Then, Meherob played a stormy innings of 42 off 24 struck 5 fours and a six and skipper Rakibul added crucial 21 runs in the end which propelled the side to set a target of 292 runs to chase.