Asian Cricket Council U19 Asia Cup Final Shibli shines, Bangladesh U19 clinch title with massive win

By M. Shamil Amit

Opener Ashiqur Rahman Shibli shone with a top-knock of 129 as Bangladesh U19 recorded a massive 195-run win over hosts UAE U19 in the Asian Cricket Council U19 Asia Cup final played at the ICC Academy ground yesterday.

The final was expected to be a closely contested encounter due to the fact that the two teams qualified by defeating two top teams, defending champions India U19 and Pakistan U19, who had a successful stint before undergoing a shocking defeat to UAE U19, who earlier overcame another fancied team, Sri Lanka U19.

However, it was not to be, as the host side was never going to be in the run chase of the massive 283 runs target set by Bangladesh U19.

UAE U19 was made to struggle for their runs despite making a sedate start. The fall of the second wicket on 28 runs saw them undergo a major collapse as they lost five quick wickets for the addition of just 33 runs and slid to 61/7 in the 15th over before being bundled out for a meagre 87 runs.

Earlier in the day, Bangladesh U19, invited to bat first, had an early setback as they lost the first wicket with 14 runs on the scoreboard. But top-scorer Shibli, who made 129 in 149 balls (12 boundaries, one six), came to the rescue, as he shared two valuable partnerships, the first of 125 runs for the second wicket with Chowdhur Md Rizwan (60), and the other of 86 runs for the third wicket with Ariful Islam, who chipped in with a half-ton.

Result:

At ICC Academy - Bangladesh U19 won by 195 runs 

Bangladesh U19 282/8 in 50 overs (Ashiqur Shibli 129, Chowdhur Md Rizwan 60, Ariful Islam 50; Ayman Ahamed 4/52, Omid Rehman 2/41)
UAE U19 87 in 24.5 overs (Dhruv Parashar 25 n.o.; Rohanat Doullah 3/26, Maruf Mridha 3/29)