Bangladesh brought high-flying Nambia crashing down to earth as the home side outclassed their Southwest African opponents by eight wickets to become Group A champions in the ICC Under-19 World Cup at the Sheikh Kamal International Stadium in Cox’s Bazar yesterday.
The home team confirmed their Super League berth earlier after beating South Africa and Scotland and the third win set their Super League clash against Group D runners-up Nepal at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on February 5.
Namibia made headlines when they sent defending champions South Africa packing after beating Scotland in the first game, but they were nowhere near the level of their impressive performances in the previous two matches once Young Tigers skipper Mehedi Hasan Miraz invited them to bat first.
Pacer Mohammad Saifuddin, who already hogged the spotlight for his accuracy in a handful of yorkers, gave the breakthrough in the fourth over by removing Loftie-Eaton and then the Namibian batsmen were caught in a spin, as the trio of Saleh Ahmed Shawon (2 for 10), Miraz (2 for 12) and Ariful Islam (2 for 9) helped hosts dismiss Namibia for a paltry 65.
Bangladesh initially stumbled in their chase as they lost their both openers, Saif Hasan and Pinak Ghosh, with the scoreboard reading 13, but Joyraz Sheik (34 not out) and in-form Nazmul Hossain (14 not out) took the hosts home in 16 overs.
There was nothing exciting about the one-sided affair except the tension surrounding Miraz’s bowling record. He required two wickets to become the highest wicket-taker in Youth ODIs and he took his first in the seventh over. However, when he returned to bowling in the 33rd over the tension mounted and Miraz was fortunate to take the last wicket by trapping Warren van Wyk in front to leapfrog Pakistan’s Imad Wasim with 74 wickets. Two Bangladeshi youths now hold the highest-run getter and wicket-taker records as Nazmul Hossain earlier became the highest run-getter during his unbeaten 113-run innings against Scotland at the same venue.
Miraz, who was the toast of his teammates, was the most satisfied man yesterday but he was looking for more success in the tournament. “As a captain it’s a wonderful day for me as we won the match, became group champions and I achieved the feat of becoming the highest wicket-taker,” said an excited Miraz after the match.
“But we cannot end everything here; instead we have to continue our smiles in the tournament. We have a long way to go. If we are already satisfied then we cannot achieve our goal,” he continued, adding that a win against this kind of team always boosts confidence since there is always the chance of an upset.
Miraz also gave some credit to his best friend for achieving the feat. “I was confident about the record in this match. But you know if you are too eager about taking wickets then you may be unsuccessful. Shanto [Nazmul Hossain] reminded me that it would be unwise for me to think about the record which helped me lot.”
