Maruf’s five-for in vain as young Tigers lose to India

Maruf Mridha returned figures of 5-43 but his effort went in vain as Bangladesh began their ICC U-19 World Cup campaign with a heavy defeat against India in Bloomington today. 

Bangladesh Under-19s were bundled out for 167 runs in reply to India's 251 for seven. 

Mohammad Shihab James scored highest 54 runs for the young Tigers. 

Bangladesh had decided to field first and made most of the early assistance in Bloemfontein. 

Maruf was on song with the new ball, and troubled the India batters with his left-arm angle. He accounted for all-rounder Arshin Kulkarni and Musheer Khan early in the innings to give the young Tigers an early advantage.

Adarsh Singh and skipper Uday Saharan then put their foot down, and ensured that India went ahead at a brisk pace. The left-right combination worked to perfection as the duo added 116 runs for the third wicket, overseeing two-thirds of the second Powerplay. Adarsh (76) eventually fell while trying to loft Rizwan Chowdhury over mid-off.

Bangladesh were able to stem the flow of runs, and this resulted in another breakthrough, in the form of the set Saharan (64). 

Aravelly Avanish (23 from 17) starred with a cameo to add crucial runs in the death overs. Another brisk knock from Sachin Dhas (26 from 20) helped add some crucial runs to the India total. 

Maruf returned to garner two more wickets, and ensured that India were restricted to 251-7.

In reply, Bangladesh openers looked compact against India's new ball pair. 

Even as Naman Tiwari struggled for control, Ashiqur Rahman Shibli and Jishan Alam added a brisk 38 for the first wicket. The Boys in Blue, finally, struck in the 8th over, when Alam tried to pierce a Raj Limbani delivery past the covers, but was brilliantly caught by Murugan Abhishek. 

Right after, India vice-captain Saumy Pandey made a sensational entry in his U19 World Cup debut, picking back-to-back wickets to rock the Bangladesh innings.

Kulkarni also joined the wicket-takers' list by trapping Ahrar Amin (5) leg before wicket. A valiant fifth-wicket stand between Ariful Islam and Mohammad Shihab James rescued Bangladesh from dire straits. The duo batted patiently to bring the Young Tigers closer to their ask.
However, Ariful fell to Musheer Khan in the 35th over to almost determine the fate of the match.

The young Tigers next meet their Ireland counterparts on Monday.