DUBAI – Bangladesh defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 195 runs and won the ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup 2023 for the first time thanks to Ashiqur Rahman Shibli’s 129 and the bowlers’ combined efforts.
Bangladesh U19 lost their first wicket in five overs after being invited to bat, scoring just 14 runs. Chowdhur Md Rizwan then joined Ashiqur Rahman Shibli, and the two of them stitched together a strong 125-run partnership for the second wicket. At 135 all, Dhruv Parashar dismissed Rizwan (60) to end the partnership.
Shibli was then involved in a partnership with Ariful Islam, scoring 86 runs from 76 balls for the fourth wicket Ayman Ahamed removed the latter. Ariful Islam departed after scoring 50 off 40, with the help of six boundaries. Shibli waged a lone war from his end, while UAE bowlers kept picking wickets at regular intervals from the other end.
Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby, the captain of Bangladesh, was the only prominent lower-order contributor with a cameo of 21 off 11. Shibli finished his brilliant innings of 129 runs off 149 balls, complete with 12 boundaries and one six, in the last over that Ahamed bowled. At 282-8, Bangladesh U19 concluded their innings. With figures of 4-52, Ayman Ahamed led the UAE bowling charts, and Omid Rehman claimed two wickets.
In response, UAE failed to get the start they wanted to chase a 283-run target as they slipped to 39-4 inside 10 overs courtesy of brilliant bowling by Maruf Mridha and RohanatDoullah Borson. Dhruv Parashar was the only batter who showed resistance against Bangladesh bowlers, but he could not get support from the other end.
The UAE team was reduced to a pitiful 87 runs in 25 overs by the exceptional bowling of Bangladesh’s bowlers. With a best score of 25 off 40, Parashar maintained his undefeated status, while Akshat Rai scored just 11. With three wickets apiece, Mridha and Borson led the Bangladeshi bowlers’ devastation, while Sheikh Paevez Jibon and Iqbal Hossain Emon each claimed two wickets. Both the man of the tournament and the man of the match went to Ashiqur Rahman Shibli.
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