KUALA LUMPUR: Bangladesh batted brilliantly to shock India by eight wickets and sent them crashing out of the U-19 Asia Cup as they joined Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan in the semi-finals here on Tuesday.

Defending champions India, coached by former great Rahul Dravid, were knocked out after suffering their second defeat in three days.

After being upset by Nepal on Sunday, the Indian colts were once again at the receiving end as Bangladesh chased down a modest 188 with eight wickets and four overs to spare in a rain-curtailed match at the Royal Selangor Club here.

Put in to bat, India lost half their side on 96 runs as none of the top order batsmen managed to get going against a disciplined Bangladesh bowling attack.

For the Bangladeshis, medium pacer Mohammad Robiul Hoque was the wrecker-in-chief with figures of 3/43. In reply, the Bangladesh’s opening pair of Pinak Ghosh (81 not out) and Mohammad Naim Sheikh (38) provided a solid 82-run start to dent India’s hopes and Tawhid Hridoy (48 not) saw them home.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2017