The Bangladesh Under-19 Team have won the match against South Africa by 43 runs in the ICC Under-19 World Cup tournament opener.
The South Africa Under-19 Team have lost all its wickets after posting 197 runs in 48.4 overs while chasing a 241-run target set by the Bangladesh Team.
The hosts have lost seven wickets in 50 overs after posting 240 runs, a total that always looked like the target from the start. Bangladesh seem to have the perfect attack for the conditions, and all of them did their job in defending 240.
Saifuddin with his yorkers, Mehedi with his offbreaks and Shawon with his drifting, non-turning left-arm spin were particularly impressive. A calm and fluent hundred from Liam Smith, but not much else at all from the South African batsmen.
From Bangladesh side, Nazmul made a quality 73 and was the only person to score a fifty.
Earlier in the day, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first.
South Africa and Bangladesh have locked horns four times before in ICC Under-19 World Cups, and on each occasion South Africa has come out on top.
Also, South Africa is the defending Under-19 champion, a crown it won in 2014 in the United Arab Emirates.
The Under-19 World Cup is essentially a springboard for Bangladeshi players to make it to the biggest level. While Bangladesh are keen to express themselves through their well-trained skills, they also face the challenge of dealing with heightened expectations.
For Bangladesh, this is a tournament for the players to show the depth of talent in the country beyond the senior side, which enjoyed a run of good performances in 2015.
Bangladesh’s performances in junior cricket also warrant the expectations.
In the last 12 months, the top five run-scorers and top four wicket-takers in Youth ODIs are all Bangladeshis.
The Bangladesh captain Mehedi Hasan Miraz, who bats right-handed and bowls offspin, is on both lists, and he, along with the likes of batsman Nazmul Hossain Shanto and left-arm spinner Saleh Ahmed Shawon, will shoulder plenty of responsibility over the course of the tournament.
Bangladesh: Mehedi Hassan Miraz (capt), Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Joyraj Sheik, Pinak Ghosh, Saif Hassan, Zakir Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Shafiul Hayat, Saeed Sarkar, Mehedi Hasan Rana, Abdul Halim, Sanjit Saha, Saleh Ahmed Shawon, Ariful Islam, Jaker Ali.
South Africa: Tony de Zorzi (capt), Ziyaad Abrahams, Dean Foxcroft, Dayyaan Galiem, Willie Ludick, Wandile Makwethu, Conner McKerr, Rivaldo Moonsamy, Wiaan Mulder, Luke Philander, Farhaan Sayanvala, Lutho Sipamla, Liam Smith, Kyle Verreynne, Sean Whitehead.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
