U19 Asia Cup | India edge Bangladesh in thriller to clinch U19 Asia Cup

U19 Asia Cup | India edge Bangladesh in thriller to clinch U19 Asia Cup

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The Indian Under-19 side led by Dhruv Jurel staged a stunning fightback with the ball to beat Bangladesh and clinch the U19 Asia Cup title. After getting bowled out for a modest total of 106, Atharva Ankolekar led India's fightback with the ball as the Boys in Blue won the encounter by five runs.

Brief scores: India U19 106 all-out (Karal Lal 37 and Shamim Hossain 3/8) beat Bangladesh U19 101 all-out (Akbar Ali 23 and Atharva Ankolekar  5/28)

India won the U19 Asia Cup for the seventh time (including one shared trophy) in their history on Saturday as they beat Bangladesh by five runs in a nail-biting encounter to add yet another feather to their cap. After winning the toss and opting to bat, the defending U-19 World Champions had the worst start imaginable as they lost their top three batsmen for just eight runs. However, skipper Dhruv Jurel (33) and Shashwat Rawat (19) steadied the ship for the Boys in Blue for a brief while, but soon the duo was sent packing by Shamim Hossain, who bowled an outstanding spell, ending with figures of 6-2-8-3.

Karan Lal then struck a handy 37 down the order, but the Jurel-led India team was bowled out for just 106 under 33 overs by the roaring Bangla Tigers. Chasing 107 for victory, Bangladesh got to the worst possible start imaginable, losing their top 5 batsmen for scores of 0, 5, 1, 0 and 3. Skipper Akbar Ali then stopped the hemorrhage by scoring a valiant 23, but once he was sent back by Ankolekar, things looked dull for the Tigers. 

At 78/8, it looked like all hope was lost, but bowlers Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Rakibul Hasan took them close to the finish line, with the equation at one stage reading eight runs needed to win with two wickets in hand. However, the left-armer Ankolekar then cleaned up both Sakib and Shahin Alam in the same over to seal the victory for the Indians. 

Arjun Azad finished as the tournament's highest run-getter with 142 runs to his name, while Ankolekar, who grabbed 12 wickets in just three matches, ended as the tournament's highest wicket-taker. 

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