Bangladesh is the defending champion of the Youth Asia Cup. Their quest to retain the title began with a win against Afghanistan in Dubai on Friday (November 29). Bangladesh got off to a great start by defeating Afghanistan by 45 runs.
Batting first, the red-green jersey holders collected 228 runs. Afghanistan was also giving a great response. However, they could not take control of the match due to the determination of the Bangladeshi bowlers. Bangladesh secured victory by restricting Afghanistan to 183 runs.
Bangladesh was invited to bat after losing the toss in the first match of the Asia Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. 6 cricketers of Bangladesh made their ODI debut in this match. In the match, Azizul Hakeem Tamim's century and Kalam Siddiqui's half century made Bangladesh team collect 228 runs.
In response, the Afghan youth also started to watch and listen. However, Maruf Mridha hit the Afghan camp in the ninth over. Opener Wazirullah Niaiji (5) was dismissed for a run. However, they put up a lot of resistance in the second and third wicket pair. The match came under the control of Bangladesh after Rafiuzzaman Rafi and Al Fahad broke the pair. The innings of Afghans stopped at 183 runs due to the failure of the middle order and late order. The maximum 58 runs came from the bat of Faisal Khan. This batsman made a partnership of 50 runs with Nasser Khan for the third wicket. 38 runs came from the bat of Nasser Khan.
Among the Bangladeshi bowlers, Al Fahad and Iqbal Hossain took three wickets each. Maruf Mridha took two wickets. Besides, Rafi Uzzaman Rafi took a wicket.
Earlier, the Bangladesh team was invited to bat after losing the toss. The opening pair of Bangladesh was broken by 3 team runs. Abdul Aziz sent back Jawad Abrar (5) on the fifth ball of the innings. After that, captain Azizul Hakeem Tamim went into bat. He went down to bat in the first over of the innings and got out in the 47th over. During this time he played a marathon innings of 103 runs. Despite his long innings, Bangladesh could not score many runs. Can get 228 runs for 9 wickets in scheduled 50 overs.
Tamim made a partnership of 142 runs with opener Kalam Siddiqui for the second wicket. Mohammad Ghazanfar broke the partnership with Kalam's wicket in the third ball of the 36th over. Kalam scored 66 runs off 110 balls with 5 fours and 1 six. Bangladesh's batting lineup collapsed when this pair broke. After Kalam and Tamim, only three batsmen have touched double figures. Shihab Zemon (10), Farid Hasan (10) and Rafi Uzzaman Rafi (11) played an innings of runs. The Bangladesh captain scored a century off 132 balls. Tamim reached three figures by hitting Nuristani Omarzai for a six in the fourth ball of the 47th over. However, he got out in the next ball. He scored 103 runs in 133 balls with 8 fours and 3 sixes.
Among Afghanistan's bowlers, Aziz, Nuristani, Khatir Stanikzai got 2 wickets each, Ghazanfar and Nasir Khan Marufkhil got 1 wicket each.
