Young Tigers through to final four

Following consecutive victories in the first two matches of the U-19 Asia Cup's group stage, Bangladesh confirmed their semifinal spot early as Sri Lanka beat Nepal by 60 runs at Sharjah today.

So far, both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have won two matches and gathered four points from Group B.  However, Bangladesh tops the point table by virtue of superior run-rate. The other two teams of the group -- Nepal and Kuwait – have been eliminated.

Back to today's game, Sri Lanka amassed a total of 332 for four in 50 overs after electing to bat first. Sadisha Rajapaksa hit 131 off 119 while opener Chamindu Wickramasinghe played a 111-run as the two stitched a 223-run partnership off 197 balls for the second-wicket stand.

In reply, Nepal were all out in 262 runs in 47.5 overs. Wicketkeeper-batter Arjun Saud was the pick of Nepal batters with his 64 runs while Sri Lanka's Raveen de Silva and Matheesha Pathirana bagged three wickets each.

Bangladesh's young Tigers will be up against the young Lankan Lions on Tuesday to battle for the group's top spot. Earlier, the boys in red and green have beaten both Nepal and Kuwait comprehensively by 154 and 222 runs, respectively.