BULAWAYO: Off-spinner Vihaan Malho­tra took four wickets to help India make a stunning comeback and beat Bangladesh by 18 runs in their rain-affected Group ‘B’ match of the ICC U-19 World Cup at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Saturday.

This was India’s second consecutive victory in the event.

Chasing 165 off 29 overs in a rain-curtailed game, Bangladesh in a dramatic turnaround collapsed for 146 in 28.3 overs. At one stage they were 106-2 in the 22nd over and looked strong favourites to win the game.

Skipper Azizul Hakim top-scored with a fighting 51 off 72 balls with the help of four fours and a six but the effort proved insufficient in the end for Bangladesh. Opener Rifat Beg (37 off 37) was the other major scorer.

Malhotra was the wrecker-in-chief with impressive figures of 4 for 14 in four overs.

Interestingly, after avoiding handshakes at the toss amid the ongoing tensions between India and Bangladesh, players of both the teams completed the traditional custom after the game.

Earlier, opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi slammed 72 off 67 while wicket-keeper/batter Abhigyan Kundu made 80 off 112 as India, after being asked to bat first, posted 238 off 48.4 overs.

Suryavanshi, 14, became the youngest player to score a fifty in the U-19 World Cup history, and also surpassed Virat Kohli in the list of players with the most runs in youth ODIs. For Bangladesh, pacer Al Fahad took five wickets for 38 runs in 9.2 overs.

In a Group ‘A’ match, Sri Lanka created two tournament records as they outclassed Japan by 203 runs at the Namibia Cricket Ground in Windhoek.

After being put into bat first, Sri Lanka amassed 387-4 off their 50 overs and then restricted their opponents to 184-8 to win their first match of the event.

Sri Lankan openers Viran Chamuditha (192) and Dimantha Mahavithana (115) laid the foundation for the huge win with a 328-run stand — the biggest partnership for any wicket in the event’s history — in 43.5 overs.

The previous record was held by England players Dan Lawrence (174) and Jack Burnham (148) who added 303 runs for the second wicket against Fiji at the 2016 U-19 World Cup in Chittagong.

The second record — of the highest-ever individual score by a player in a U-19 World Cup — was claimed by 17-year-old Chamuditha who smashed 26 fours and a six during his 143-ball innings. The left-hander broke the record of compatriot Hasith Boyagoda who smashed 191 against Kenya in the 2018 edition.Mahavithana cracked 11 fours in his 125-ball knock.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2026