DUBAI: Pakistan’s U-19 Asia Cup journey ended with Bangladesh beating them by seven wickets in the semi-final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Bangladesh chased down a paltry target of 117 in only 22.1 overs after Iqbal Hossain Emon’s brilliant show with the ball had earlier restricted Pakistan to 116.

Pakistan lost opening batters inside the first three overs after being put in to bat first. Usman Khan and Shahzaib Khan were dismissed for ducks by left-arm pacer Maruf Mridha.

First-drop Mohammad Riazullah (28 off 65, two fours) and skipper Saad Baig (18 off 41, three fours) knitted 42 runs for the third wicket but were removed by player of the match Iqbal.

Farhan Yousaf, who walked in to bat at 74-5 hit three sixes and one four in his run-a-ball 32 and fell in the 34th over with the score reading 113-7.

Bangladesh wrapped up Pakistan’s innings for 116 in 37 overs as Iqbal bagged four wickets for 24 runs. Maruf registered bowling figures of 2-23 while Al Fahad and Debasish Deba picked up one wicket each.

In turn, captain Azizul Hakim struck an unbeaten 42-ball 61 including seven fours and three sixes with Mohammad Shihab James chipping in with 26 off 36 balls with the help of four boundaries. For Pakistan, Naveed Ahmed Khan, Abdul Subhan and Ali Raza dismissed one batter each.

Scores in brief:

PAKISTAN U-19 116 in 37 overs (Farhan Yousaf 32, Mohammad Riazullah 28; Iqbal Hossain Emon 4-24, Maruf Mridha 2-23); BANGLADESH U-19 120-3 in 22.1 overs (Azizul Hakim 61 not out, Mohammad Shihab James 26; Naveed Ahmed Khan 1-13).

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2024