Juniors stumble in opener
Bangladesh began their journey in the 2018 Under-19 Asia Cup on the wrong foot, falling to a six-wicket defeat in their Group B encounter with Sri Lanka at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram yesterday.
After being sent to bat, Bangladesh never looked comfortable as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were subsequently bundled out for a measly 141 runs in 46.4 overs. Sri Lanka faced no difficulty whatsoever to reach the target for the loss of four wickets and with 12.1 overs to spare.
The youngsters began their batting in a dismal fashion as opener Sajid Hossain was run out off the first ball of the second over.
Aside from captain Towhid Hridoy who top scored for the side with 35 while opener Tanzid Hasan's 24 was the second highest tally, none of the other batsmen were able to build any sort of partnership as the middle order crumbled and subjected them to a low total.
Shashika Dulshan, Danish Nethmika and Kalhara Shaminda were the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka, scalping two wickets each.
"The top and middle-order collapsed and we should have done better. We must not give away our wickets so easily," said Towhid.
In Sri Lanka's innings, Bangladesh did manage to pick up three early wickets as pacer Shoriful Islam removed both the openers to leave the side struggling on 28 inside seven overs.
However, Nuwanidu Fernando and Don Pasindu added 90 runs for the fourth wicket and took the game away from the hosts. Pasindu was dismissed on 36 but Fernando added an unbeaten 64 off 94 balls to help Sri Lanka clinch the easy win.
In the other Group B game, Pakistan registered a comprehensive nine wicket win after bundling Hong Kong out for just 77 runs at the MA Aziz stadium in Chattogram.
In Group A, India posted 304 for nine before restricting Nepal to just 133 runs to claim a huge 171-run win at the BKSP-3 ground.
At the BKSP- 4 ground, defending champions Afghanistan started their tournament campaign with a five wicket win as they dismissed the United Arab Emirates on 140 before chasing down the target in 27 overs.
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