Hridoy ton drives young Tigers to crushing win

Towhid Hridoy slammed a blazing hundred as Bangladesh Under-19s outclassed their Malaysian counterparts by 262 runs to maintain their winning run in the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Captain Saif Hasan missed a hundred by just 10 runs but added 192 with Hridoy for the third wicket stand to help Bangladesh pile up a huge total of 335 for six after at one stage being 36 for two.

It was the second successive win for the young Tigers as they won against Nepal by two wickets through the D/L method in the opening game. Bangladesh lead the Group A table with two wins and they will play their last group match today against defending champions India, who suffered a shocking 19-run defeat to Nepal on Sunday.

In yesterday's second match, Malaysia made a good start to justify their decision to bowl first as Bangladesh lost openers Pinak Ghosh and Naim Sheikh for 36 runs. Hridoy, who is considered a future prospect by many, then joined Saif to put the Malaysian bowlers to the sword.

Hridoy smashed seven fours and four sixes during his run-a-ball 120 while Saif struck 90 off 103 balls with five fours and three sixes. Aminul Islam was the other notable scorer as he made an unbeaten 39 off 17 balls that contained two fours and four sixes.

In reply, Virandeep Singh was the only Malaysia Under-19s batsman to reach double digits but his 130-ball 46 only helped the hosts to complete the 50-over quota for a dismal score of 73 for eight.

Shakhawat Hossain picked up three wickets for 18 runs while Afif Hossain picked up two wickets for 19.

SCORES IN BRIEF

BANGLADESH U-19S: 335-6 in 50 overs (Towhid Hridoy 120, Saif 90, Aminul 39 not out; Hafiz 4-78)

MALAYSIA U-19S: 73-8 in 50 overs (Virandeep 46; Shakhawat 3-18, Afif 2-19, Saif 1-7)

Result: Bangladesh Under-19s won by 262 runs.

Player-of-the-match: Towhid Hridoy.