Lull period for Tigers in Birmingham

Bangladesh Under-19 captain Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby thanked his bowlers for putting in a match-winning effort in their semifinal win over defending champions India in the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup in the UAE on Friday.

2019 runners-up Bangladesh beat eight-time champions India by four wickets, courtesy of left-arm pacer Maruf Mridha's four wickets -- which helped them bundle out India for 188 -- and batter Ariful Islam's 90-ball 94-run knock laced with nine fours and four sixes.

They will face hosts UAE in the final on Sunday.

"The bowlers bowled really well. I would like to thank my bowlers," Rabby said in the post-match interview.

The pace quartet of Mridha, Iqbal Hossain Emon, Rohanat Doullah Borson and Chowdhury Mohammad Rizwan bowled tight lines and lengths and made use of the new ball to tighten the screws on India.

The pacers bowled the first 18 overs of the innings and manufactured India's slump to 69 for six after sending the reigning champions to bat first on conditions that had swing on offer early on.

Mridha, in particular, shone as he picked up four wickets for 41 runs, removing three of India's top four with the new ball.

Fifties from India's Musheer Khan (50) and Murugan Abishek (62) kept India alive in the contest, taking their total to 188.

Bangladesh's reply got off to a rocky start as they lost their top three, including their top scorer in the tournament Ashiqur Rahman Shibli, within the first powerplay with 34 runs on the board.

But Ariful and Ahrar Amin put together a 138-run stand for the fourth wicket to take Bangladesh on the brink of victory, with the latter scoring a steady 101-ball 44 before being dismissed with the side just two runs away from victory.

Sheikh Parvez Jibon (three) scored the winning run, with the skipper at the other end unbeaten on two.

In the day's other semifinal, hosts UAE beat Group A champions Pakistan by 11 runs to advance to the final.

Openers Liton Das and Tanzid Hasan Tamim broke a 24-year-old record as the duo starred in a 93-run opening stand -- the highest-ever opening partnership for Bangladesh in World Cups --  against India in Pune today.

A new opening record for Bangladesh in the ODI World Cup was made when Liton flicked a Shreyas Iyer delivery through square leg for a double in the 12th over as the duo of Liton and Tanzid surpassed the previous best of a 69-run opening stand between Mehrab Hossain Opi and Shahriar Hossain against Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup. The Tigers went on to clinch a historic 62-run win against Pakistan on that occasion. 

Bangladesh got off to a brilliant start today. Both Tanzid and Liton remained cautious in the beginning, scoring just 10 off the first five overs. However, the Bangladesh openers upped the ante in the next overs, dealing in boundaries and scoring at a rapid pace. 

Tanzid went on to pick up his maiden ODI fifty off 41 deliveries before being trapped in front off a Kuldeep Yadav delivery as his 43-ball 51-run knock came to an end. Liton remained unbeaten on 39 off 45 deliveries as Bangladesh reached 94 for the loss of one wicket after 15 overs.  

Bangladesh forward Mosammat Sagorika said she drew inspiration from the presence of her parents at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka to go that extra mile in rescuing a draw for her side against India in the SAFF U-19 Women's Championship final on Thursday. 

India led in the eighth minute of the match, courtesy of Shibani, and had the game in control for the most part but it seemed that Sagorika had other plans as she found the equaliser for Bangladesh deep into stoppage time, taking the game to penalties.

Photo: Firoz Ahmed

Sagorika's strike helped the women in red and green become joint champions along with India following a controversial decision from the match commissioner, who opted for a coin toss to determine the result instead of continuing with the penalty shootout after all eleven players from each team converted their spot kicks.

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Coin-toss chaos

"I did not know that my parents would come to watch the final match. During the interval, I was astonished when someone told me that my father and mother had come to the stadium and I ran to them. I am very happy that my parents came this far to watch me on the ground," Sagorika said after the match.  

Photo: Firoz Ahmed

The striker burst into tears as she hugged her parents soon after the completion of the prize-giving ceremony.

"I had the determination to show my parents that I could score goals and perform well because everyone told me that I could not do much with my parents present on the stands but I was able to do it for my parents and nation," said  Sagorika, who revealed once not allowed by her father to play football.

Photo: Firoz Ahmed

"Initially, my father did not allow me to play football but he supported me a lot afterwards and I promised them that I would become a big player one day. Today, I showed my parents that I could also do it," Sagorika said

Photo: Firoz Ahmed

Sagorika said she was happy to hear that her neighbors who were critical of her watched her performance by setting up a projector in the village. She also expressed her satisfaction to have struck the equaliser in what helped Bangladesh become joint champions.

"I was feeling bad when India scored against us. I was thinking why we would not be able to get a goal as we were playing better football. There was a good feeling after scoring the equaliser," Sagorika said. "Of course, there was regret for not becoming the standalone champions. We should be champions but we are also happy being joint champions."
Sagorika said her ultimate goal was to play for the senior team and realised that she still had a long way to achieve that.

Photo: Firoz Ahmed

"Securing a place in the senior national team will be very hard because there are a lot of good players who play better and I know I have to perform better to secure a place in the national team. I am ready to work harder," said Sagorika.

Bangladesh captain Afeida Khandokar, who led the side for the first time, said she was not aware of the coin toss stipulation that was carried out. Despite the confusion leading to controversy, she said she had no sorrow and was happy to be joint champions.

Photo: Firoz Ahmed

"There is nothing to feel sorrowful about, rather it is happiness for us because we added another accolade to our team, irrespective of the way we became champions. If we could have become sole champions, the joy would have been greater for me because I captained the team for the first time," said the central defender

"How could the fate of the match be decided by a coin toss as it is not in the by-laws? Neither the match commissioner nor the referee told me about the toss that would decide the championship. I thought that the toss was taking place because of the re-taking of the penalty shootout," said Afeida. 
 

When Shakib Al Hasan came to the crease yesterday in the fourth over, the top-order was once again struggling; this time at 15 for two. Shakib may not have found the hundred he would have been desperate to get, but during a crucial 101-run stand with Tawhid Hridoy, he batted to a plan to bring much-needed respite for Bangladesh in their Asia Cup Super Four fixture against India in Colombo.

After missing out on a single, the stump mic caught him telling Hridoy, "You know how much further we have to go?" It was a reminder of the task ahead. And as the only veteran in the playing eleven, it was much needed.

Judging from his remarks before the game, he was acutely asking his players to take up their end of the bargain. He demonstrated how he does his bit. "Here experience or inexperience or new and old doesn't come into the equation," he had said. It was the scenario the Tigers' veterans and youngsters have to play if the team are to find rhythm at the upcoming World Cup.

With Anamul Haque Bijoy once again failing to impress and Mehedi Miraz departing soon after, the Tigers' batting recovery hinged on Shakib and Hridoy's partnership.

Shakib, was comfortable in shot-making from the onset but impatience was showing as well. He had to gradually settle down with wickets falling around him. It had been 36 innings since his last ODI ton; in fact, he has not reached three figures in any format since his blistering 124 not out against the Windies at the 2019 World Cup.

But as he has shown many times, he often does not worry about the numbers as long as he is contributing. He has scored fifty 11 times, crossing 90 twice since that ton against Windies. The unbeaten 96 against Zimbabwe was the closest he got to a hundred since then.

When he came on, it felt like he needed some luck on his side to play a bigger innings. He had got going against Pakistan in this Asia Cup too, but did not make enough to really make an impact. This time against India, despite it being a dead rubber, Shakib needed some confidence to carry to the World Cup. It is after all, his individual responsibility to shine with the bat at the World Cup.

That rub of the green came in the 19th over, when off-spinner Tilak Varma troubled him and got the outside edge but only for KL Rahul to drop a difficult chance behind the stumps.

Shakib would then get the wake-up call. With the spinners introduced, he found negotiating Varma difficult. But when India wanted to squeeze the run-rate, Shakib had finally found his preferred matchups in Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja.

While risks could not assure favourable results with a lot of rebuilding to do, Shakib and Hridoy were calculative. Thus, Hridoy went after Varma, the right-arm off-spinner, hitting two sixes in the 23rd over. Shakib picked the cue for acceleration and hit Patel for two through mid-wicket.

As spinners were trying to go through their overs fast, Shakib faced 20 deliveries from Patel, hitting 27 runs and picking 22 from the 17 deliveries he faced against Jadeja. Hridoy had taken Verma for 15 off the nine he faced against his favourable matchup.

When it looked assured that Shakib would convert the 80 to a ton, he fell to a careless shot, at a time the team needed a bigger contribution from him. Hridoy's fifty would ensure at least 200 on the board before Nasum Ahmed and Mahedi Hasan finished well.

Despite the lacklustre state of the batting department, some nuance shown by the skipper and others after yet another top-order struggle should set the Tigers on a better plan for their batting department.

Bangladesh carried on with their underwhelming showing with the bat in the ongoing ODI World Cup on Thursday, posting a modest 256-8 against India in Pune, in an innings that hardly merits an in-depth dissection.

After a stellar opening stand, the innings followed what has been Bangladesh's trend in this World Cup since winning their opener against Afghanistan - losing wickets in regular successions, not stringing more than one meaningful partnership per innings and in the end settling for a below par total.

But amidst all the mediocrity, young Bangladeshi opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim stood out with some refreshing aggression at the top of the order.

After failing to get going in the first three games of the tournament, the junior Tamim finally showed a glimpse of his immense ability, smashing his maiden half-century in ODIs against India at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

There were no doubts about the 22-year-old's immense talent, which he has showcased at the Under-19 level for Bangladesh.

Tanzid has made 1018 runs in Youth ODIs, which is not that impressive considering 29 other players have more runs than him at that level.

However, Tanzid has scored those runs at a strike rate of 102.82, which is the second best among all batters who have made at least 1000 runs in Youth ODIs, second only to India's Shubman Gill.

Tanzid's attacking mindset at the top of the order is what makes him an exciting prospect for Bangladesh in limited-overs cricket.

Despite poor returns, the management persisted with the left hander for this ability. And on Thursday, he finally lived up to his reputation.

Followed by a cautious start, Tanzid's innings went to the next gear when he pulled Jasprit Bumrah over the deep square leg region with great authority for the first six of the innings.

After that shot, there was no looking back for Tanzid. He in particular launched on to Shardul Thakur, striking him for two sixes and a four in the 10th over.

Tanzid's charge down the ground against fast bowlers reminded every Bangladeshi fan of a certain young swashbuckling opener who did the same against India at the Port of Spain during the 2007 World Cup.

The sixes an 18-year-old Tamim Iqbal hit against pacer Zaheer Khan in that game remains an iconic moment in Bangladesh's cricket history.

Fast forward to 16 years, another opener named Tamim was dealing the same sort of punishment to Indian pacers.

The similarities between the innings of the two namesakes didn't end there as like the senior Tamim, Tanzid also finished on 51 runs. The only difference being, he took 10 balls less than his senior.

But the major difference between the two innings is that while Tamim's knock in 2007 led to Bangladesh's first and only win over India in World Cups, young Tamim's fifty eventually ended in a losing cause.