Ariful’s five-star ton in vain against Pakistan

Centurion Ariful Islam stood out a lone warrior with the bat for Bangladesh U-19s but a small team total ended up posing little challenge for their Pakistan counterparts in Coolidge yesterday.  

In the fifth-place play-off semifinal match of the ICC Under-19 world cup, Pakistan won comfortably by six wickets, having chased a 176-run target in 46.3 overs.

Earlier, electing to bat first, the young Tigers continued their woeful display with the bat and went on the back foot right from the start. From 23 for three after 11.3 overs, Ariful arrived in the middle at five and steadied the ship somewhat with a 50-run stand with opener Iftakher Hossain (25) and later found another able partner in SM Meherob (14). However, just when a 200-run total seemed a possibility, Bangladesh found themselves in total disarray in the span of three overs by losing three quick wickets, all of which were taken by Mehran Mumtaz, the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with figures of 16 for three in ten overs.

From 122 for eight after 39.4 overs, Ariful, batting on 58 at that point, took it upon himself to present a fighting chance for his bowlers. Ariful departed eventually after scoring 100 off 119 deliveries, showcasing nine boundaries which included four maximums, before Bangladesh were all out for 175 in 49.2 overs. Ariful's ton remains the highest score by a Bangladesh batter in the mega event, surpassing Mahfizul Islam's unbeaten 64 against the UAE.   

In reply, Pakistan batters seemed to be in a hurry as openers Hasibullah Khan and Muhammad Shehzad put up 62 runs in 12 overs. From then on, economical bowling from Naimur Rohman, Aich Mollah and Rakibul Hasan stifled the batters. And when innings' top scorer Hasibullah (79) and Irfan Khan (24) were dismissed in quick succession, Bangladesh found themselves with a glimmer of hope as Pakistan needed 30 runs from ten overs with seven wickets in hand.

In the end, Bangladesh's total proved to be 25-30 runs short as Pakistan reached the target with 21 balls and six wickets to spare. Skipper Rakibul scalped two wickets for his side.