Bangladesh defeat India in final to retain ACC U19 Asia Cup

Monday, 9 December 2024 01:30 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Iqbal Hossain, who took three wickets, was Player of the Final as well as Player of the Series

Bangladesh, coached by former Sri Lanka cricketer and national batting coach Naveed Nawaz, retained the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Asia Cup when they defeated India by 59 runs in the final played at Dubai yesterday.

In 2023, Bangladesh beat UAE in the Under-19 Asia Cup final by 195 runs.

Under Nawaz’s coaching, Bangladesh won the 2020 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, defeating India by three wickets in the final.

Bangladesh defended their total of 198 superbly by dismissing the strong Indian batting line-up for 139 in 35.2 overs.

India was never in the hunt from the inception of their innings as the Bangladesh bowlers kept on picking up wickets at regular intervals so that they were 92-7 at one stage. A partnership of 23 developed between skipper Mohammed Amaan (26 off 65 balls) and Hardik Raj (24 off 21 balls), but Bangladesh Captain Azizul Hakim, coming on to bowl at this stage, not only broke the stand but went onto capture the last three wickets for eight runs in 2.2 overs as Bangladesh completed an emphatic victory.

Iqbal Hossain, their right-arm fast bowler, took the Player of the Match award with three top order wickets for 24 runs, as well as the Player of the Series award with 13 wickets in the tournament.Mohamed Shihab (40 off 67 balls), Rizan Hossan (47 off 65 balls), and Farid Hasan (39 off 49 balls) were the main contributors for Bangladesh with the bat.