After the devastating bowling of Maruf Mridha, Ariful’s impeccable innings of 94 runs from 90 balls secured a 4-wicket victory over arch-rivals India. Along with that, Bangladesh reached the final of the U-19 Asia Cup remaining undefeated. In the final, their surprising opponent is United Arab Emirates who Pakistan in semi-final.
India scored 188 runs in the first innings after losing the toss at the ICC Sports Academy ground in Dubai on Friday (December 15). In response, Bangladesh reached the port of victory with 43 balls in hand. Ariful is the hero of Bangladesh’s run chase by scoring 94 runs off 90 balls.
Batting first after losing the toss on ground number 2 of the ICC Academy Oval in Dubai, India were put under pressure early on by Maruf Mridha’s disturbing balls. The left-arm pacer took all the first three wickets. Losing 3 wickets for 13 runs, India tried to mount some resistance. But India kept losing wickets regularly to the perilous balls from the Tiger point.
However, Mushir Khan and Murugan Abhishek made a partnership of 84 runs in the seventh wicket. Both picked up half-centuries. Mushir returned with 50 runs from 61 balls and made his debut with 62 from 74 balls. India was bowled out for just 188 runs in 42.4 overs as no batsman got significant runs in the innings.
