Cool and calm Akbar Ali led from the front to take Bangladesh to their first-ever U-19 World Cup title. It was a low scoring thriller and Bangladesh almost repeated the history of Asia Cup final last year when India defended 107 but this time gritty hand by the captain was not in the mood to leave it for someone else. Scoreboard might suggest it’s just 43 runs by Akbar Ali but the way he handled the pressure with half-fit Parvez Hossain Emon and later with no.9 Rakibul Hasan wasn’t something you see often in the Bangladesh team. It was indeed an impressive knock!
Chasing the target of 178, Bangladesh openers provided a rollicking stand. Indian pacers were bit off colour. Either it’s lack of scoreboard pressure or nerves of final, they were wayward. So skipper Priyam Garg had to turn up to his trump-card Ravi Bishnoi in 9th over and he struck in the very first over.
Tanzid Hasan was the first one to go. After hitting a six, he couldn’t hold back and ended up skying up to long-on. He scored 17 runs and provided a 50-run stand.
Then India sensed an opportunity and it was all Ravi Bishnoi show!
Googly after googly and the Bangladesh middle-order batsmen neither could read him nor they were coming on the front foot to smother the spin. Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Towhid Hridoy and Shahadat Hossain fell in quick succession and in the meantime other opener Parvez Hossain Emon also walked off with hamstring injury and India were right on top.
With a couple of close-in fielders and slip, there was a lot of excitement on almost every ball.
But after the 6 overs of Bishnoi, the captain decided to hold him back and changing his end didn’t prove a wise decision either. Sushant Mishra provided two quick wickets to put Bangladesh further in trouble at 102/6. Now Emon decided to return back and held the fort with captain Akbar Ali.
Frustration started to take over for India as they came close to the target. But just when only 35 runs required, golden arm Yashaswi Jaiswal struck with the wicket of Emon who scored a handful 47 runs.
But at no.9 Rakibul Hasan stood tall for his captain. And as Bishnoi’s coming close to finish his quota, desperation started to take over and both batsmen played him out. He finished with figures of 10-3-30-4.
Then other pacers couldn’t pose a threat on either side of the rain break and the skipper took them home with a historic win. When India will look back at this game, they would want to rewrite the column of extras which showed a whopping 33 extras.
Earlier Bangladesh won the toss and invited India to bat. India had some nightmares of the Quarter Final game against Australia so they took a cautious approach. Bangladesh pacers were quite disciplined and Avishek Das got the first reward as Saxena threw his hands at a wide ball to offer a catch to backward point.
Yashasvi and Tilak Verma held the innings together to take the total to 100 in 29th over. Tilak Verma was the next one to go who couldn’t clear a short ball over deep backward point. He scored 38 runs in 65 balls with 3 boundaries.
Skipper Priyam Garg didn’t last long too as his check drive ended up straight into the hands of cover. Another side Yashasvi Jaiswal was playing a lone hand for India. Though he was mostly kept quiet against pacers he could break the shackles against spinners. Then at the score of 88, a short ball ended his resistance as he offered a simple chance to short mid-wicket. This wicket triggered a big collapse and Siddhesh Veer missed a full-toss in very next ball.
With the discipline, effort, mouthful words and send-offs, you could see how much this match meant for Bangladesh and India succumbed under pressure. With couple of needless run-outs they lost 7 wickets for 21 runs to put total of 177 on the board. Bangladesh pacers shared 7 among them with Avishek Das being their most successful bowler with figures of 3/40.
Akbar Ali was awarded man of the match for his captaincy and the unbeaten knock of 43 runs under pressure.
“It’s about the dream coming true and we have worked really hard for one and a half years. I think the boys are pumped up. I would like to congratulate the Indian side, they have been brilliant throughout the tournament. Our support staff has been great. It’s just the beginning for us.”, Bangladesh captain Akbar Ali expressed his happiness during the presentation ceremony.
It was a heartbreaking loss for India who had been terrific run throughout the tournament. Priyan Garg, India captain, shared his thoughts saying, “It was not a good day for us. We had a very low total but we gave it all. Toss was a big factor. Bangladesh started off well. Anything around 210 or 220 would have been a very good target. I think we gave our best while defending the target. We made a game out of it. Bangladesh team batted well. It was a great experience playing in the World Cup.”
Yashasvi Jaiswal was awarded player of the tournament for his 400 runs in 6 matches. He scored 4 fifties and 1 hundred. His century in the semi-final against Pakistan and today’s 88-run knock truly exemplifies the character of this young star.
Yashasvi said after the match, “I really enjoyed the tournament. I had a really good experience playing on South African wickets. I always played my own game. I am thinking about what’s next for me. I’m going to stick to the process”
Related Reading:
- India Tour Of Australia 2020-21 Full Schedule (T20I,Test,ODI)
- Neil Wagner Reveals His Plan For Virat Kohli Ahead Of Christchurch Test
- India Suffer 1st Defeat in World Test Championship (5 Talking Points)
- NZ vs IND 1st Test: Miscommunication With Rahane Leads To Pant’s Run-Out
- Ross Taylor Revisits Test Debut, Claims He Didn’t Know If He’d Play After His 1st Test
- Kagiso Rabada Suspended For Johannesburg Test For ‘Wild’ Celebration Against Joe Root
Leave a Reply