DHAKA: West Indies broke Bangladeshi hearts with a thrilling three-wicket win over the hosts on Thursday to set up the title clash with India in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

Shamar Springer followed his bowling figures of 2-36 with an unbeaten 62, which steered the West Indies past Bangladesh’s 226 all out with eight balls to spare in front of thousands of dejected home fans in the second Super League semi-final at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

West Indies, who had also reached the final when the tournament was staged in Bangladesh in 2004, will meet India for the title at the same venue on Sunday in what will be the first-ever final between the two sides at the age-group level.

Bangladesh skipper Mehidy Hasan top-scored with 60, reviving the innings with an 85-run stand for the sixth wicket with Mohammad Saifuddin (36), after half the side had been dismissed for 113 runs.

West Indies lost wickets regularly to keep Bangladesh in the hunt till Springer built on skipper Shimron Hetmyer’s half-century to record a memorable victory.

Bangladesh, electing to bat on a misty morning un Dhaka, lost openers Pinak Ghosh and Saif Hassan by the seventh over to be 27-2. They then slipped to 88-4 after star batsman Nazmul Hossain was dismissed for 11 and Joyraz Sheik fell for 35.

Mehidy hit seven boundaries in Saifuddin’s company before both the batsmen fell off successive deliveries by seamer Keemo Paul.

Mosabbek Hossain denied the bowler a hat-trick, but Paul finished with impressive figures of 3-20 from just three overs. Springer and Chemar Holder took two wickets apiece.

Gidron Pope provided the West Indies a swashbuckling start by taking 14 of the first over bowled by Mehidy before racing to 38 off 25 balls, which included five fours and a six.

Hetmyer took 16 deliveries to get off the mark before making a 59-ball 60 to lift his team to 147 for three in the 28th over.

West Indies moved to 177-4, needing just 50 more runs in 13 overs, when left-arm spinner Saleh Ahmed turned the game around with two wickets in the 38th over.

Springer kept his end up and punished the loose balls before ending the match with two consecutive boundaries through the covers off Saifuddin.

Meanwhile, Namibia defeated Nepal by 15 runs in Fatullah to finish seventh in the 16-nation tournament, a marked improvement from their 14th place two years ago.

Canada took the 15th spot with an eight-wicket win over Fiji in the battle of the wooden-spoons in Cox’s Bazar. Thursday’s other results:

Super League 7th/8th place playoff:

Namibia beat Nepal by 15 runs at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, Fatullah.

NAMIBIA 225-9 in 45 overs (L. Louwrens 59, M. van Lingen 58, F. Rautenbach 39; S. Lamichhane 3-35, S. Kandel 2-30); NEPAL 210 in 44.2 overs (S. Dhamala 59, Y.S. Karki 35, P. Tamang 32, D.S. Airee 31, Aarif Shaikh 30; M. van Lingen 4-24, F. Coetzee 3-34, B. Jacobs 2-44)

Plate Championship 15th/16th place playoff:

Canada beat Fiji by eight wickets at Sheikh Kamal Cricket International Stadium Academy Ground, Cox’s Bazar.

FIJI 83 in 28 overs (D.S. Maraiwai 14; M. Patel 4-16, S. Patel 3-18, Suliman Khan 2-31); CANADA 84-2 in 20 overs (A.S. Gill 38 not out).

Friday’s fixtures (starting time 8:00am PST):

Super League 5th/6th place playoff: Pakistan vs England (Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, Fatullah).

Plate Championship:

9th/10th place playoff: Afghanistan vs Zimbabwe (Sheikh Kamal Cricket International Stadium, Cox’s Bazar).

11th/12th place play-off: New Zealand vs South Africa (Sheikh Kamal Cricket International Stadium Academy Ground, Cox’s Bazar).

Scoreboard

BANGLADESH:

Pinak Ghosh c Paul b Holder 0 Saif Hassan c Goolie b Joseph 10 Joyraz Sheik b Springer 35 Nazmul Hossain c Hetmyer b John 11 Zakir Hasan b Holder 24 Mehedy Hasan c Frew b Paul 60 Mohammad Saifuddin b Paul 36 Saeed Sarkar b Paul 3 Mosabbek Hossain b Springer 14 Mehedi Hasan Rana not out 10 Saleh Ahmed Shawon run out 1

EXTRAS (LB-6, W-13, NB-3) 22

TOTAL (all out, 50 overs) 226

FALL OF WKTS: 1-10, 2-27, 3-58, 4-88, 5-113, 6-198, 7-198, 8-205, 9-217.

BOWLING: Joseph 7-1-33-1 (2nb, 5w); Holder 10-1-36-2 (1nb, 3w); John 8-0-29-1; Springer 10-0-36-2 (4w); Goolie 2-0-13-0; Pope 6-0-35-0; Frew 4-0-18-0; Paul 3-0-20-3.

WEST INDIES:

G.D. Pope b Mehedy 38 T.A. Imlach lbw b Mehedy 14 S.O. Hetmyer c Saif b Saifuddin 60 K.U. Carty b Saleh 22 S.K. Springer not out 62 J.U. Goolie lbw b Saleh 9 K.M.A. Paul b Saleh 4 M.O. Frew c Zakir b Saifuddin 12 R.D. John not out 2

Extras (W-6, nb-1) 7

Total (for seven wkts, 48.4 overs) 230

FALL OF WKTS: 1-44, 2-56, 3-118, 4-147, 5-177, 6-181, 7-217.

DID NOT BAT: A.S. Joseph, C.K. Holder.

BOWLING: Mehedy Hasan 10-0-57-2; Mehedi Hasan Rana 6-1-28-0 (5w); Mohammad Saifuddin 9.4-0-46-2 (1nb); Saleh Ahmed Shawon 10-0-37-3; Mosabbek Hossain 10-2-31-0; Saeed Sarkar 2-0-21-0; Nazmul Hossain 2-0-10-0 (1w).

RESULT: West Indies won by three wickets.

UMPIRES: R.J. Bailey (England) and R.S.A. Palliyaguruge (Sri Lanka).

TV UMPIRE: R.T. Robinson (England).

MATCH REFEREE: A.J. Pycroft (Zimbabwe).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Shamar Springer.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2016