Maruf Mridha scored 5-43, but his efforts were in useless as Bangladesh opened their ICC U-19 World Cup campaign with a crushing loss to India in Bloomington today.
Bangladesh Under-19s were bowled out for 167 runs in response to India’s 251 for 7.
Mohammad Shihab James led the young Tigers in scoring with 54 runs.
Bangladesh had elected to field first, with the most of the early support coming from Bloemfontein.
Maruf was on fire with the new ball, troubling the Indian hitters with his left-arm angle. He dismissed all-rounders Arshin Kulkarni and Musheer Khan early in the innings, giving the youthful Tigers an early edge.
Adarsh Singh and captain Uday Saharan then put their foot down, ensuring that India advanced at a rapid pace. The left-right combo worked well, as the partnership accumulated 116 runs for the third wicket and dominated two-thirds of the second Powerplay. Adarsh (76) collapsed while attempting to loft Rizwan Chowdhury above mid-off.
Bangladesh were able to control the flow of runs, resulting in another breakthrough in the shape of the set Saharan (64).
Aravelly Avanish (23 from 17) appeared as a cameo to provide critical runs in the death overs. Sachin Dhas (26 from 20) contributed some key runs to India’s total.
Maruf recovered and took two more wickets, limiting India to 251-7.
In response, Bangladesh’s openers looked compact against India’s new ball duo.
Even as Naman Tiwari battled with control, Ashiqur Rahman Shibli and Jishan Alam put up a quick 38 for the first wicket. The Boys in Blue eventually struck in the eighth over, when Alam attempted to pierce a Raj Limbani ball beyond the covers but was well caught by Murugan Abhishek.
Saumy Pandey, India’s vice-captain, then had a brilliant start in the U19 World Cup, taking up back-to-back wickets to rock Bangladesh’s innings.
Kulkarni also entered the list of wicket-takers, trapping Ahrar Amin (5) leg before wicket. A courageous fifth-wicket partnership between Ariful Islam and Mohammad Shihab James saved Bangladesh from disaster. The pair batted calmly, bringing the Young Tigers closer to their target.
However, Ariful was bowled out by Musheer Khan in the 35th over, practically deciding the match’s outcome.
The youthful Tigers will next face their Irish counterparts on Monday.MARUF’S FIVE-FOR-ONE IN VAIN