Bangladesh win nail-biting final by 3 wickets; clinch first U19 title

Hyderabad: Bangladesh won their maiden U19 World Cup title by 3 wickets as they beat India in the final of the U-19 World Cup at Potchefstroom on Sunday.

The men in blue were on their way to clinch a record fifth U19 title as they squared off against the formidable Bangladesh in the all-important final.

Bangladesh skipper Akbar Ali won the toss and elected to bowl first by backing their chasing abilities. They had earlier won the semi-final against New Zealand by chasing. They made one change in their team by bringing in Avishek.

Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Divyansh Saxena came out to bat as the Bangladeshi bowlers were all charged up to bowl. The Indian duo had a slow start as the Bangla bowlers consistently hit the right areas. There were also a lot of verbal exchange among the teams as Sakib almost knocked Divyansh Saxena's head off with a follow-through. Divyansh soon fell prey to Shoriful Islam.

Hyderabadi boy Tilak Varma then walked out to bat along with Yashasvi Jaiswal and moved the Indian innings forward with great patience. The duo added 94 valuable runs for the second wicket as Yashasvi Jaiswal brought up his fifth fifty of the tournament. Tilak Varma then put it straight in the hands of Shoriful as India lost their second.

The Bangladesh bowlers showed signs clear signs of a comeback as the Indian middle-order surrendered completely in front of the Bangla bowlers. Yashasvi Jaiswal led a lone battle as he scored 88 as he fell short of a well deserved hundred by 12 runs. Miscommunications among the batsmen lead to two crucial run-outs as India bundled out for 177 and gave a target of 178 to Bangladesh for their maiden U19 World Cup.

The Bangladeshi Batsmen were off to a flying start with the Indian bowlers equally under pressure. Emon and Tanzid put up a 50 run stand for the first wicket as India's magician, Ravi Bishnoi broke the partnership. Tanzid hit one straight up to Karthik Tyagi for 17. Emon too went off the field with a bad hamstring. There were 2 new batsmen on the crease for Bangladesh as Ravi Bishnoi spun through the rest of the recognised Batsmen, except for the skipper. Bangladesh were in trouble at 102/6.

Bangladesh then came back into the game as Emon came back to the crease in order to rescue Bangladesh. The skipper Akbar Ali and Emon took control of the situation and took Bangladesh forward. Amidst this, there was some serious exchange of words between Emon and Ravi Bishnoi which showed the intensity among the players and what they were playing for.

India's golden arm Yashasvi Jaiswal then came in with a crucial breakthrough as he dismissed Emon for 47. Bangladesh's star with the ball, Rakibul Hasan came out to bat and played the supporting role to skipper Akbar Ali.

The rain then played the spoil-sport and stopped the play. As per the DLS method, Bangladesh were ahead by 15 runs but the rain stopped, breathing life into India and their fans once again. The match was reduced to 46 overs with 7 runs to win for Bangladesh.

Rakibul Hasan then hit a boundary to almost seal the victory He also hit the winning runs to seal Bangladesh's maiden U-19 World Cup title.