Bangladesh opener Ashiqur Rahman Shibli hit a century to lead the Bangladesh Under-19 side to a six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the ACC U-19 Asia Cup 2023 on Wednesday at the ICC Cricket Academy in the UAE.
Shibli hit 11 fours and two sixes in his unbroken 130-ball 116 as Bangladesh chased down a 200-run mark with 55 balls remaining to win their third consecutive game and go to the competition semifinals as group champions.
Wasi Siddique’s three wickets for 32 runs helped Bangladesh reduce Sri Lanka to 199 for nine. His efforts were ably supplemented by two wickets each by left-arm pacer Maruf Mridha and left-arm orthodox Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby.
In response, Bangladesh were set back when opener Jishan Alam was bowled for nought in the fourth delivery of the innings, but Shibli and Chowdhury Mohammad Rizwan steadied the ship with a 75-run stand before the latter perished after scoring a 39-ball 32.
Shihab, who had scored back-to-back fifties in his previous two outings, held his end and formed partnerships with Ariful Islam and Ahrar Amin, who both scored 18 and 23. The right-handed hitter reached the milestone in the 37th over after taking 119 balls, and he completed the innings in the 41st over with a boundary through backward square leg.
In the other Group-B match, UAE defeated Japan by 109 runs to finish second in the group.
On December 15, Bangladesh will face Group A runners-up India in the second semifinal, while the UAE will face Pakistan in the first semifinal.