Atharva Ankolekar stars as India defend 106 to win Under-19 Asia Cup title

By PTI NewsFirst Published Sep 14, 2019, 6:00 PM IST
Highlights

In the Under-19 Asia Cup final, defending a paltry total of 106, India dismissed Bangladesh for 101 in 33 overs, courtesy 18-year-old Atharva Ankolekar, who emerged as the star of the Indian team with figures of 5/28 from eight overs

Colombo: Left-arm spinner Atharva Ankolekar returned with a five-wicket haul to help India clinch the U-19 Asia Cup title with a thrilling five-run win over Bangladesh in a low-scoring final here on Saturday (September 14).

Defending a paltry total of 106, India dismissed Bangladesh for 101 in 33 overs, courtesy 18-year-old Ankolekar, who emerged as the star of the Indian team with figures of 5/28 from eight overs.

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While Ankolekar spun a web of spin to derail Bangladesh's chase, he was supported well by pacer Akash Singh, who accounted for three wickets. V Patil (1/25) and SS Mishra (1/27) also chipped in with one wicket each at the R Premadasa Stadium here.

Chasing a small target of 107, skipper Akbar Ali (23) and Mrittunjoy Chowdhury (21) kept Bangladesh in the hunt.

Defending Champions India U19 hold their nerve and seal a thrilling 5 run win over Bangladesh in U19 Asia Cup final. We are proud of you boys! ✌✌ pic.twitter.com/Lo6j32Cfte

— BCCI (@BCCI)

After they were back to the pavilion, Tanzim Hasan Sakib (12) and Rakibul Hasan (11) raised hopes of a Bangladesh win before India fought back to bundle them out.

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Earlier, skipper Dhruv Jurel (33) and lower-order batsman Karan Lal (37) came up with useful contributions to help India cross the 100-run mark.

India's decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired big time as left-arm pacer Mrittunjoy Chowdhury (3/18) and off-spinner Shamim Hossain (3/8) wreaked havoc on the Indian batsmen.

Opener Arjun Azad was the first to go as he was caught behind by Akbar Ali off Tanzim Hasan Sakib's bowling in the third over.

In the next over, NT Tilak Varma was sent back by Mrittunjoy with Tanzid Hasan taking another catch and after the other opener SV Parkar was run out by Tanzid Hasan, India U-19 team had slipped to 8/3.

Shashwat Rawat (19) and skipper Jurel then steadied the ship and brought up the team fifty before the former was trapped leg-before by Hossain in the 15th over.

Two balls later, Varun Lavande (0) was dismissed for naught by Hossain as India U-19 lost half their side for 53 for five in 14.4 overs.

Ankolekar (2) was then run-out in the 20th over, while Hossain accounted for Jurel in the next over.

In 26th over, Sushant Mishra (3) walked back to the pavilion when he was caught by Akbar Ali off Shahin Alam's bowling, while Vidyadhar Patil was removed by Mrittunjoy in the next over.

Karan was the last batsman to be dismissed as India U-19 were bundled out for a paltry score of 106 in 32.4 overs.

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