Winning end to U-19s’ dominant tour

HIGHLIGHTS

• Bangladesh Under-19s will play their next series against Sri Lanka at home. Sri Lanka Under-19s are set to arrive on October 23 to play two four-day and five one-day matches.

• Bangladesh Under-19s may then go to South Africa for a 10-day camp before the World Cup. ICC Under-19 World Cup will be held in South Africa from January 17 – February 9 next year.

Bangladesh Under-19s signed off their New Zealand tour on a near perfect note as they wrapped up the five-match one-day series 4-1 with a comfortable 73-run win over their New Zealand counterparts in the final game at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln yesterday.

“I will not be surprised if the team win the series by a 5-0 margin,” were junior team selector and former national cricketer Hannan Sarkar’s words before embarking on the tour last month.

While the defeat in the fourth game dashed hopes of a blackwash as the home side chased down 295 runs with four wickets in hand, Hannan expressed satisfaction at the way the Young Tigers finished the job.

“It was definitely frustrating as the team failed to defend nearly 300 runs in the fourth game, but it was also a big lesson for the team, like they learned in the Asia Cup final in Sri Lanka when they failed to chase down 106 runs [in the final]. But in the final match, the boys not only crossed the 300-run mark for the first time in the series but also signed off with a big win,” Hannan told The Daily Star over phone from Christchurch yesterday.

The visitors posted a mammoth 316 for eight in 50 overs after winning the toss and then bowled the hosts out for 243 in 43.4 overs in the final game yesterday. Tanzid Hasan and Parvez Hossain gave Bangladesh a perfect start, sharing 120 runs for the opening stand. Bangladesh’s batting innings was a collective effort as Tanzid top-scored with 71 while three batsmen -- Parvez, Shahadat Hossain and Avishek Das scored 48 runs each.

Pacer Shoriful Islam then wreaked havoc on the New Zealand batting line-up, taking five wickets for 43 runs in 8.4 overs. Rakibul Hasan took two wickets while Avishek, Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Shamim Hossain took one wicket each.

“Batsmen like Tanzid Hasan, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Towhid Hridoy and Akbar Ali are good prospects while it was nice to see pacer Shoriful Islam get back his rhythm. This team has been playing good cricket for the last few months, especially since the last England tour. We are really hopeful with this team and the performance in New Zealand is a big boost because the conditions in South Africa in the next World Cup will be more or less the same,” observed Hannan.

Hannan, however, recalled the performance of the Mehdi Hasan Miraz-led Under-19 team which achieved the best result for the country till date by finishing third in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup. “It would not be wise to be over-excited because the Miraz-led team also had good results against England and South Africa before the World Cup. We have to prove ourselves in the knockout stages. This team has got the ability to achieve something big in South Africa. Most importantly when we are talking about the next generation of cricketers after Shakib [Al Hasan] and Tamim [Iqbal], these boys can fill the void if we can give them enough opportunities,” he added.