U19 Asia Cup Final: India pips Bangladesh in low-scoring thriller

India U-19 beat Bangladesh U-19 by five runs in a nail-biting contest in Colombo to win its seventh ACC U-19 Asia Cup.

The victorious Indian side after defending the U-19 Asia Cup title in Colombo.

India U-19 beat Bangladesh U-19 by five runs to win the 2019 ACC Asia Cup at the RPS stadium in Colombo on Saturday. This is India's seventh triumph in the continental tournament for junior cricketers.

Both the semifinals, scheduled on Thursday, had been washed out. India and Bangladesh U-19 sides made the final at the expense of Sri Lanka and Afghanistan after finishing on top of their respective groups.

Earlier in the day, only three Indian batsmen managed to reach double-digit scores. Captain Dhruv Jurel and all-rounder Karan Lal made 33 and 37 respectively to take India to 106.

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Pacer Mrittunjoy Chowdhury and off-spinner Shamim Hossain picked up three wickets each, while there were also a couple of run-outs, as the Indians were bowled out in 32.4 overs. 

In the run-chase, Bangladesh struggled too at 16/4 as left-arm fast bowler Akash Singh claimed three of the first four wickets.

Skipper Akbar Ali steadied the ship, along with Mrittunjoy, but there was a minor rain delay in the game when Bangladesh was on 78/6 in 19.4 overs. However, no overs were lost.

The extras had also put India U-19 on the back foot. The Indians conceded 18 extra runs in a low-scoring game, as opposed to Bangladesh's four.

Immediately after the restart, both the set batsmen threw away their wickets after playing poor shots. The advantage was handed back to India.

A ninth-wicket partnership between Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Rakibul Hasan threatened to take the game away from India but orthodox bowler Atharva Ankolekar held his nerve to hand the defending champion the victory once again.

Ankolekar deservedly won the player of the match award for taking five wickets, while opener Arjun Azad bagged the player of the series honour for scoring 202 runs in four games this tournament.