Bangladesh through to U-19 World Cup semis

Bangladesh U-19s beat South Africa by 104 runs to make it through to the semifinals of the U-19 cricket World Cup with spinner Rakibul Hasan bagging five wickets for 19 runs at Potchefstroom today. Bangladesh will face New Zealand in the semifinal on February 6.

Batting first, Bangladesh posted 262 for five and then a solid effort from the bowlers helped the young Tigers skittle South Africa out for 157 runs. Luke Beaufort played a lone hand during battling 91-ball 61 but Rakibul and Tanzim Hasan, who bagged two wickets for 41 runs, ran through the Proteas batting lineup to grab victory for the young Tigers. Left-armm pacer Shoriful Islam bagged one wicket for 28 runs. 

Earlier, Fifties from Tanzid Hasan, Towhid Hridoy and Shahadat Hossain propelled Bangladesh U-19s to 261 for five in their quarterfinal clash against South Africa U-19s at Potchefstroom today.

Bangladesh banked on Tanzid's 84-ball 80 at the top of the order after a bright start. Hridoy's 73-ball 51 and Shahdat's unbeaten 76-ball 74 -- the duo featuring in a 102-run partnership for the fourth wicket -- took Tigers to a strong total. Skipper Akbar Ali struck a 11-ball 16 at the end.