India Under-19 clinched the Asia Cup title in a dramatic fashion - beating Bangladesh by five runs - in Colombo on Saturday. India folded for 106 as Mrittunjoy Chowdhury and Shamim Hossain picked up three wickets each. Atharva Ankolekar, the left-arm spinner, fashioned the nervy win with a five-wicket haul as the Bangladesh innings huffed and puffed for 33 overs, report Cricbuzz.
Bangladesh were reeling in the small chase once they were reduced to 51 for 6 with Akash Singh bagging three of the top six. Akbar Ali and Chowdhury steadied the ship and took the team forward before rain stopped play in the 20th over. Bangladesh were 78 for 6 at that stage but the break robbed them of all the momentum they had gathered. Ali fell soon after the break but Bangladesh kept India on their toes and moved to 101 for 8. Ankolekar bagged the last two wickets to ensure there was no last push.
Earlier in the day, Karan Lal and Dhruv Jurel scored 33 and 37 for India but it was a pretty dismal display. Seven batsmen were kept to single-digit scores while Shashwat Rawat chipped in with 19. Hossain ended with exceptional figures of 6-2-8-3 only to be let down by the batsmen.