Bangladesh seal 6-wicket win over Ireland

A collective batting performance provided Bangladesh to seal a triumph by six wickets over Ireland in the eighth game of the ICC Under-19 World Cup.

The young Tigers easily chased down the mediocre 236-run target keeping 19 balls in hand at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on Monday.

In reply to 235, the men in red and green got a wonderful start with two openers Ashiqur Rahman Shibli, 44 and Adil Bin Siddik, 36. Both of them provided a 90-run stand on the first wicket.

However, Bangladesh lost four wickets in a span of 40 runs, pushing themselves to 130/4 after 27.3 overs.

Ahrar Amin,45, and Mohammad Shihab James, 55, then came into the crease and did not let any chance to Irish bowlers as both of them took the team to an easy win providing a 109-run unbeaten stand between them.

Scott MacBeth bagged two wickets for Ireland while John McNally and Matthew Weldon got one wicket apiece.

Earlier, Bangladesh restricted Ireland to 235 runs with their tight bowling spells throughout the innings.

Opting to bowl, Bangladeshi bowlers brought a good start taking two wickets inside 50 runs. They kept holding the start as they picked up four Irish batters on 95 runs and put pressure on them.

Ireland did not let it go so easily, providing an 81-run stand on the fifth wicket to ensure a good foundation.

However, the young Tigers came back strongly and took control of the pitch as they started picking wickets at regular intervals which impacted on run rate. As a result, Ireland’s innings had to stop at 235/8 after 50 overs.

Maruf Mridha and Sheikh Parvez Jibon picked up two wickets each for Bangladesh while Rohanat Doullah Borson, Md Rafi Uzzaman Rafi and Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby got one apiece.

Earlier on Saturday, Bangladesh succumbed to an 84-run defeat to India in their first game of the tournament. As a result, they had to manage the victory in this match to remain in the race to the quarter-finals.