Under-19 Asia Cup semifinals | Bangladesh beats India to enter final; UAE stuns Pakistan to reach summit clash

Bangladesh beat India to reach ACC Under-19 Asia Cup final in Dubai. Bangladesh will be meeting United Arab Emirates by defeating Pakistan in the other semifinal

Ariful Islam’s counter-punching fifty and a fiery spell by left-arm pacer Maruf Mridha helped Bangladesh score a facile four-wicket win over India to reach the final of the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup in Dubai on December 15.

On a slightly double-paced pitch, Indian batters struggled to get going before getting bundled out for 188 in 42.4 overs, with Musheer Khan (50) and Murugan Abhishek (62) doing all the scoring for them.

Maruf took 4 for 41 to give early jolts to India in the second semifinal.

Despite some jitters, Bangladesh went over the line pretty comfortably in 42.5 overs with Islam (94 off 90 balls) defending the Indian charge with an engaging innings.

However, Maruf kickstarted India’s poor day with a superb opening spell.

The pacer found some bounce and swing upfront to reduce India to 13 for three inside seven overs. Openers Adarsh Singh, Arshin Kulkarni and captain Uday Saharan returned without troubling the scorers much.

But Musheer and Abhishek shared an 84-run alliance for the seventh-wicket to rescue India from a precarious 61 for 6.