India beats Bangladesh by 2 runs to enter U-19 Asia Cup final

India successfully defended 172 by bowling Bangladesh out for 170.

The India U-19 team, which won the World Cup in 2018. (representational image)

Mohit Jangra and Siddharth Desai grabbed three wickets apiece as India eked out a narrow, two-run win over Bangladesh to enter the final of the Under-19 Asia Cup here on Thursday.

Opting to bat in, India was all out for 172 in 49.3 overs, Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scoring with a 69-ball 37 while Sameer Choudhary and Anuj Rawat contributed 36 and 35 respectively.

The Indians were able to defend the small total, thanks to a disciplined bowling show led by pacer Jangra and left-arm spinner Desai, who shared six wickets between them. Bangladesh was bowled out for 170 in 46.2 overs.

The duo ripped through through the Bangladesh batting by claiming five of its top six batsmen.

Bangladesh was reduced to 65 for five by the 20th over but a 74-run partnership between Shamim Hossain (59) and wicketkeeper Akbar Ali (45) took it closer to a memorable victory.

Bangladesh reached 139 for six and needed 34 runs from 89 balls for a win. With Hossain at the crease, it was in with a great chance to win the match. But the Indian bowlers gave nothing away and choked up the Bangladesh batsmen.

In the end, the efforts of the Indian bowlers paid off as Bangladesh kept losing wickets. Hossain was the eighth batsman was out in the 43rd over and was bowled out in the 47th over.

Earlier, India did not have the best of starts to its innings and had a batting slump in the middle overs with three wickets falling in quick succession. It had two good partnerships -- one of 66 for the second wicket between Jaiswal and Rawat and another of 59 between Ayush Badoni (28) and Choudhary.