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The ACC Under 19 Asia Cup 2019 will get to its semi-final stages when two of the knockout events being worked off at P. Sara Stadium and in Moratuwa today. Defending champions India will face the hosts Sri Lanka at P. Sara while unbeaten Bangladesh outfit will face a strong Afghanistan team in Moratuwa. Both games are scheduled to start at 9:45 a.m. provided there is no overnight rain.
Mahmudul Hasan Joy scored a magnificent century against Sri Lanka |
India won all three of their group matches against Kuwait, Pakistan and Afghanistan while Sri Lanka beat UAE and Nepal but lost out to Bangladesh in their last group encounter. On books the defending champions, Indians got a strong outfit under their belt. Sri Lanka should play to their best potential in all departments in order to pull this one off and reach the final.
Meanwhile Bangladesh had a fine first round winning all their three matches in the group stages against Nepal, UAE and Sri Lanka while Afghanistan lost out to India but beat Kuwait and Pakistan in a thriller. Their win against Pakistan was a special one where they shot out their neighbors for a low 78 which packed them home after end of the first round.
Afghanistan holds a strong unit, where they could stun any team, but the consistent Bangladesh hold the edge. This year the Bangladesh team had played 19 games and won 16 of them while one game ending in a tie and lost out to India twice in England. They are coached by former D.S. Senanayake National Cricketer Naveed Nawas who has now migrated to Australia.
Bangladesh vs. Afghanistan in Moratuwa
Bangladesh: Akbar Ali (Capt), Tanzid Hassan Tamim, Prantik Nabil, Towhid Hridoy, Amite Hasan, Shamim Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Rakibul Hasan, Minhuzur Mahanna, Rishad Hassain, Shoriful Islam, Mrittunjoy Nipun, Avishek Das, Hasan Joy and Tanzim Sakib
Head Coach Naveed Nawas
Afghanistan: Farhan Zakhail (Capt), Rahman Rahmani, Sadiqullah Atal, Shafiqullah Ghafari, Ishaq Shirzad, Abdullah Naib, Abidullah Taniwal, Islam Zazai, Hamshid Khil, Noor Lakanwal, Samiullah Sularazai, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Rahmathullah Kan, Asif Khan and Nangeyalla Kharate
Head Coach Rais Ahmadzai
Sri Lanka vs. India at P. Sara Stadium
Sri Lanka: Nipin Dhanjaya (Capt), Navod Paranavitharana, Kamil Mishra (Vice Capt), Ahan Wickremasinghe, Avishka Tharindu, Rashantha de Silva, Abishek Kahaduwaarachchi, Rohan Sanjaya, Ashen Daniel, Sandun Mendis, Kavindu Nadeeshan, Yasiru Rodrigo, Dilshan Madushanka, Chamindu Wijesinghe and Amshi de Silva
Head Coach Hashan Thilakaratne
India: Dhruv Lurel (Capt), Suved Parkar, Thakur Namboori, Nehal Wadhera, Arjun Azad, Pankaj Yadav, Shashwat Rawat, Purnank Tyagi, Atharva Ankolekar, Salil Arara, Vidyadhar Samashekhar, Varun Lavande, Karan Lal, Akash Patel and Sushant Mishra
Head Coach Paras Mhambrey
(SJ)
Pic by Chamila Karunarathne