Dubai: Bangladesh rode on Mohammed Prantik Nawrose’s century to coast to a 154-run victory over Nepal on the second day of the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Playing in Bangladesh’s opener of the ninth edition of the event, Nawrose showed a welcome maturity to steer Bangladesh to a commanding 297 for four in 50 overs, well backed by Md Fahim with 54 runs. Nepal could muster only 143 in 42.3 overs in reply.
Nawrose seemed to have built on the confidence from his century against the India Under-19 team in the Under-19 Tri-nation series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on December 1. He had played a knock of 101 and ensured Bangladesh a 113-runs win over India, who started their campaign with a massive win against hosts UAE on Thursday.
An automatic choice as the Player of the Match, Nawrose said he wants to stretch his form into the coming matches. “This is my third century this month. I scored against India and then when we played a practice match between ourselves where I scored another century. For me what matters most is not about scoring centuries but staying on at the wicket and giving my country a good total. I enjoy doing what my country demands off me and I am happy I played my role well today.”
Bangladesh skipper Rakibul Hasan said he wanted other batsmen too to follow Nawrose. “I will be happy if many more centuries come in during the coming matches. We have started off well with a creditable victory. We wanted to stick to our plans as we did today. It wasn’t easy to bowl second but our bowlers bowled really well.”
Nepal skipper Dev Khanal believes that they started the match well but Bangladesh took the match away. “We were in the game till the 34th over as we bowled well. All credit to Nawrose and Fahim, they took the game away from us through their fine knock. We also allowed them to get away taking two runs in place of singles. As a batting unit, our top order did not show the intent though the lower order batsmen did. We will look into these aspects and play better in the coming games.”
Brief Scores: Bangladesh beat Nepal by 154 runs. Bangladesh 297 for four off 50 overs (MP.Nawrose 127*, M.Fahim 58) vs Nepal 143 all out off 42.3 overs. Man of the Match: Md Prantik Nawrose (Bangladesh).
