Junayed’s unbeaten 87 sees U-17s in the driving seat

Bangladesh under-17s enjoyed a good second day with the bat even as the morning session did not quite show the day in their three-day match against Sri Lanka U-17s at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Friday.

From an overnight score of 28 for two, Bangladesh U-17s slumped to 88 for five at lunch. But left-handed batter Junayed Hossain got the young Tigers back into the driving seat with an unbeaten 87 as the hosts reached 230 for eight at stumps on the second day.

Coming in at number seven, Junayed spent 280 minutes at the crease to score 87 off 216 deliveries. It was his first match at the 'home of cricket' and he said it was a dream to play a match in Mirpur.

"It's a great feeling to play a match at an international venue. We would try to win the game. It was a dream to play in Mirpur when I started playing with cricket ball and the hard work helped me get here," Junayed told reporters after the day's play as Bangladesh ended with a 248-run lead.

"They (Sri Lanka) have a good bowling attack and in the first innings, our batters faltered and in the second innings, I tried to cover for it. I finished the day unbeaten and hopefully we set them a good target tomorrow," he added.

Junayed has a whole night to ponder about how he can get his ton with two remaining wickets left in the tank. "We still don't have enough runs but maybe enough. Hopefully I will get the ton tomorrow," he said.

It was Junayed's partnership of 92 with Rakibul Hossan (41) which turned the game around before Junayed enjoyed a 51-run stand with Sourav Karmakar (25) for the eighth wicket. Lanka's left-arm spinner Himaru Dewan was the pick of the bowlers with six for 83.