Mirajul hits first half hattrick as Bangladesh U-20s down Maldives

Forward Mirajul Islam slammed a hattrick as Bangladesh put one foot into the final of SAFF U-20 Championship with an emphatic 4-1 win over Maldives in their third match at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, India tonight.

With three victories in as many matches, the boys in red and green are on the top of the table of the five-nation tournament with nine points from three matches. Bangladesh are three and six points ahead of Nepal and India, respectively, after India beat Sri Lanka 4-0 in the day's first match. However, Nepal and India played a match less than Bangladesh.

The boys in red and green will book their final berth with a match left against Nepal if India are denied a victory over Nepal on July 31. If India beat Nepal, then Bangladesh will require at least one point against Nepal in their fourth and final match of the group stage on August 2 to ensure a spot in the final.

Being bolstered with back-to-back victories, the charges of Paul Smalley approached the game with high confidence but initially faced a little bit of pressure from Maldives, who are yet to win, before establishing their full control to leave the field on a high.

Following two missed chances by Moinul Islam and Rajon Howlader, Mirajul gave Bangladesh a 19-minute lead after driving a rebounder home as Maldivian goalkeeper Shaihan Ali stopped Mirajul's first attempt.

Two minutes later, Mirajul hit the woodwork but made no mistake to double the lead in the same minute. He again nodded a Murad Ali header on the crossbar and then drove home the follow-up from a hand-shaking distance.

Piash Ahmed Nova, goal-scorer of the previous match against India, then squandered a good opportunity in the 26th minute before Mirajul set Rafiqul Islam for the team's third goal in the 32nd minute.

With Bangladesh continuously creating chances, Mirajul completed his hat-trick with his second effort in 42nd minute to widen the margin, indicating an impression of a massive victory on the cards but the boys in red and green could not more to their tally in the second half like they could not against Sri Lanka and India in the previous match.

Maldives reduced the margin with a strike from Zain Zafar in the 53rd minute while Mirajul and Nova rattled the woodworks twice in the latter part of the second half despite Maldives' solid defence in the second half.