U19 Tigers back in business

Nazmul Hossain Shanto hit an unbeaten 69 after pacer Mohammad Saifuddin's four-wicket haul as Bangladesh Under-19s returned to the winning track against their South African counterparts with a comfortable eight-wicket victory in the fourth one-dayer at the City Oval in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa today.

Bangladesh Under-19s now lead the seven-match series 3-1.

A 124-run second wicket partnership between Shanto and Saif Hassan helped Bangladesh Under-19s to reach the target, after their bowlers restricted the home side to 170-9.

Bangladesh made a cautious start in chase of an easy target as Pinak Ghosh and Saif Hassan added 33 runs in 9.1 overs.

Pinak was dismissed for 15 runs to bring Shanto to the middle. Shanto scored 69 off 94 balls with eight boundaries, while Saif made 54 off 122 balls, smashing six boundaries. Captain Mehedi Hasan Miraz finished the chase in style, hitting a boundary against pacer Glover.

Earlier, South Africa Under-19s decided to bat first, but made a disastrous start as Rivaldo Moonsanny was the victim of a run-out in the very second over before opening bowler Rifat Prdahan took another wicket in the third over to pave the way for Saifuddin to finish with four for 42 runs in 10 overs.

Opener Liam Smith was the top scorer for the home side with 59 runs.

SCORES IN BRIEF

SOUTH AFRICA UNDER-19S: 170-9 in 50 overs (Smith 59, Verreynne 34 not out; Rifat 1-19, Saifuddin 4-42, Sanjit 1-23)

BANGLADESH UNDER-19S:  172-2 in 40.2 overs (Saif 54, Shanto 69 not out; Glover 1-33, Mulder 1-31)

Result: Bangladesh Under-19s won by eight wickets.