Sheik, Mehedi lead U19 Tigers to tight win

A 106-ball 90 from Joyraz Sheik and a four-for from captain Mehedi Hasan gave Bangladesh Under-19s a close 22-run win against South Africa Under-19s in Durban.

Chasing 267, South Africa needed 26 to win off the last two overs with three wickets remaining, but Mehedi's double-strike in the 49th over, including the wicket of the set batsman Dayyaan Galiem, effectively closed out the game giving Bangladesh a 5-2 series victory.

South Africa began their chase losing opener Matthew Breetzke in the first over and No. 3 batsman Rivaldo Moonsammy 22 runs later.

However, Liam Smith's 89 looked to bring the chase back on track and he shared in partnerships worth 47 and 56 for the third and fourth wickets. He was the fifth batsman to be dismissed, with the score at 159 in the 39th over with South Africa needing 108 in a little over 11 overs.

South Africa lost a few more wickets before Galiem(65) with the help of Sean Whitehead (24) shared in a 52-run partnership for the eighth wicket to bring the equation down to 32 off the last three overs.

Mohammad Saifuddin conceded just six off his penultimate over before Mehedi capitalised on that pressure with two wickets.

Earlier, the Bangladesh openers - Saif Hassan (45) and Pinak Ghosh(31) - got off to a good start after choosing to bat. The pair added 63 before Ghosh was caught off the bowling of Wiaan Mulder.

However, partnerships of 60 and 82 for the second and third wickets extended Bangladesh's ascendancy.

Joyraz played the anchor with his 90, which included six fours and two sixes. He started slowly but kicked on towards the end of the innings - scoring 37 runs in his last 17 balls.

Brisk cameos from the middle order - with 95 runs coming off the last 10 overs - propelled Bangladesh to 266 for 6.

South Africa's stand-in captain Willem Ludick and Mulder picked up two wickets each.