U-19s beat Afghanistan to clinch tri-series final

Bangladesh U-19s clinched the tri-series by beating Afghanistan in the final by six wickets at Tolerance Oval, Abu Dhabi today.

Left-arm spinner Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby was the hero of the match, bagging six wickets for 29 runs to bundle out AfghanistanU-19s for 143 all out.

Maruf Mridha struck the first blow for the young Tigers with the wicket of Hezbullah Dorani in the sixth over before Rabby got into his attack to remove other opener Wafiullah Tarakhil in the 14th over. From 53 for two, the batting collapse saw Afghanistan reduced to five for 60 inside the 18th over as Rabby bagged two more.

A sixth-wicket partnership between Haroon Khan and Khalid Taniwal of 54 runs got them past 100.

Despite Haroon's 62-ball 65, the rest did not contribute enough as Afghanistan were bowled out in 37 overs. Another left-arm spinner Rafi Uz Zaman Rafi bagged two wickets.

Rabbi's six-wicket haul saw him bag 10 wickets in the tournament. The tri-nation series also involving Sri Lanka, began on March 18. The Tigers had lost their first two matches in the tournament but produced a comeback by winning the next two to make it through to the final.

Ashiqur Rahaman Shibli departed in the fourth over in chase of 144 but Jishan Alam struck a 19-ball 35 at number three to put the momentum to the innings. Jishan departed in the seventh over but Chowdhury Md Rizwan and Ariful Islam (22) stitched together a 53-run stand.

Ariful and Rizwan, who made a 49-ball 43 departed soon after each other but Bangladesh got through the chase without losing any more wickets to clinch the trophy.