Young Tigers suffer heavy defeat in Tri-Nation Series opener

Bangladesh Under-19s suffered a heavy defeat against their Afghanistan counterparts in the opening fixture of the Tri-Nation Series at the Tolerance Oval in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Afghanistan U-19s began their campaign without breaking a sweat as they chased a paltry 75 with seven wickets and a whopping 239 deliveries to spare.     

The young Tigers were on the back foot from the onset as Bashir Ahmad Afghan turned out to be the chief destroyer as he removed the openers and returned to scalp number five and six batters, skipper Ahrar Amin and Shihab James, to bag a four-fer.

Bangladesh were bundled out for 75 inside the 23rd over after Only two Bangladesh batters – opener Ashiqur Rahman Shibli and Wasi Siddique in the lower-middle order – managed to hit double digits.

In defence, Rohanat Borson struck early to dismiss Hezbullah Dorani for naught but, despite Borson ending up picking two more wickets, Sohail Khan Zurmati (33 not out) and Haroon Khan (21 not out) wrapped up the game in a hurry.

Bangladesh up next are scheduled to play Sri Lanka on Monday. Each team will play the other two teams twice before the top two teams play for the title on March 30.