While their seniors were battling to save a Test match at home against South Africa despite going neck and neck on the first three days, Bangladesh Under-19s lost the tempo after a great show in the group stage when they crashed to a humiliating 201-run defeat to the Proteas in the Under-19 cricket World Cup in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
A close finish in the group stage saw Bangladesh snatch a 13-run victory against England to win all their group games and avoid a clash against hot favourites India in the knockout stage.
But it seemed that they fell into fire from the frying pan in their quarterfinal against South Africa at the Bayuemas Oval as they produced a no-show.
The inserted Proteas recovered from a precarious 69-4 to reach 242 for eight in 50 overs, thanks to captain Wayne Parnell's 57 off 60 deliveries. Rubel Hossain and Subhashis Roy each claimed two wickets.
Parnell later ran havoc in the Bangladeshi batting with five overs of his left-arm seam bowling, grabbing six wickets for eight runs as the rank outsiders skittled out for a meagre 41 in just 11.5 overs.
Bangladesh Cricket Board's development committee chairman Col (retd) MA Latif rushed to the Malaysian capital before the semis to inspire the boys but it seemed that the official's whole-hearted effort went down the drains as they were all out for the second lowest total ever in the competition.
Nasir Hossain was the only Bangladeshi player to reach double figures with 17 on a woeful day for the batsmen.
India also advanced to the semifinals when they eliminated England by seven wickets. India meet the winners of today's clash between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the semifinal while South Africa will take on winners of the fourth semifinal between holders Pakistan and Australia.
AFP adds: After Jonathan Vandiar (45) and Yaseen Vallie (28) put on 66 for the fifth wicket to rescue South Africa from an early collapse, Parnell smashed a plays first-class cricket in Port Elizabeth and looks up to former South African opener and India's new coach Gary Kirsten, emerged the tournament's leading bowler with 14 wickets from four matches.
Abraham Pienaar chipped in with two wickets in one over.
India, seeded second behind defending champions Pakistan, proved the lucrative Indian Premier League was no distraction as they thrashed England at the Kinrara Oval.
India sent England in to bat and shot them out for 146 with left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah taking 3-29 and seamer Siddarth Kaul and left-arm slow bowler Ravindra Jadeja picking up two wickets each.
Opener James Taylor was the only batsman to defy the accurate Indian attack with 41.
Indian openers Sreevats Goswami and Taruwar Kohli saw off the new ball with a slow but steady start of 65 in 20 overs.
Essex off-spinner Tom Westley created a minor scare in the Indian camp by removing star batsmen Tanmay Srivastava and skipper Virat Kohli in successive overs.
Taruwar Kohli, who hails from Jalandhar in northern Punjab, guided India home with an unbeaten 63 and became the tournament's leading scorer with 207 runs in four matches.
It can be mentioned that the Indian team here have been besieged with phone calls from IPL agents over the past week offering contracts reportedly ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 dollars.
BRIEF SCORES
ENGLAND: 146 all out in 46 overs (James Taylor 41, Ben Brown 24; Iqbal Abdullah 3-29, Siddarth Kaul 2-21, Ravindra Jadeja 2-23)
INDIA: 149-3 (Taruwar Kohli 63 not out, Sreevats Goswami 26)
Result: India beat England by seven wickets at Kinrara Oval.
SOUTH AFRICA: 242-8 in 50 overs (Jonathan Vandiar 45, Wayne Parnell 57; Subhasish Roy 2-30, Rubel Hossain 2-41)
BANGLADESH: 41 all out in 11. 5 overs (Nasir Hossain 17; Wayne Parnell 6-8, Matthew Arnold 1-25, Abraham Pienaar 2-8)
Result: South Africa beat Bangladesh by 201 runs at Bayuemas Oval.