Young Tigers lose to Afghanistan

Bangladesh U-19s lost their first warmup match for the ICC Under 19 World Cup at Christchurch today by 56 runs.

Fantastic spells from Naveen-ul-Haq and Qais Ahmed saw Afghanistan restrict Bangladesh to 150 all out after they started well in their chase of Afghanistan's 206. Tigers were well on course for victory after Pinak Ghosh and skipper Saif Hasan built a solid foundation following Nayeem Hasan's departure in the third over of the innings, out bowled off a Naveen delivery.

Pinak struck 56-ball 54 while Saif scored a 74-ball 43 but once Pinak fell in the 18th over with the score on 92 for two, Bangladesh innings collapsed. The last eight wickets fell for 58 runs as leg-spinner Qais and medium pacer Naveen picked up three wickets apiece.

Naveen removed skipper Saif in the 33rd over and none of the other batsmen were able to arrest the Tigers' innings from crumbling as they bundled out for 150.

Earlier, Afghanistan managed to post 206 on the board courtesy of a brilliant 66-ball 81 from Azmatullah Omarzai after Bangladesh won the toss and sent Afghanistan to bat first.

Medium pacer Hasan Mahmud was the pick of the Tigers' bowlers with four wickets for 46 runs. Robiul Haque picked up three wickets but was on the expensive side with 56 runs conceded in 9.2 overs while Tipu Sultan grabbed two wickets for 36 runs in his ten overs.