Young Tigers crush Pakistan

Bangladesh Under-19 team pacers ran through their Pakistani counterparts and helped them earn a seven-wicket win in the first semifinal and qualify for the final of the ongoing ACC Men's U-19 Asia Cup in the UAE.

The fast bowlers set up the victory for the defending champions with Iqbal Hossain Emon finishing as the most successful of the lot with figures of 4-24.

The other pacers also played their part with Maruf Mridha setting the tone early by dismissing both Pakistan openers for ducks and Al Fahad and Debasish Sarkar Deba also providing breakthroughs in crucial times as the young Tigers bowled out their opposition for just 116 after electing to bowl first.

Later, skipper Azizul Hakim Tamim struck his third 50-plus innings in the tournament and remained unbeaten on 61 off 42 balls with seven fours and three sixes to guide his to the target in just 22.1 overs.

Skipper Tamim credited his pacers for their sensational bowling performance against their Pakistani counterparts.

"Today [yesterday] everything was in our favour. All the bowlers did really well, especially Emon, Maruf and others as well. That's why we could dismiss them for 117 [116] runs," Tamim said in a video message after the match.

Meanwhile, pacer Emon was elated with his performance and happy to contribute to the team's winning cause.

"The wicket was really good, it was a pace-friendly wicket. I bowled in good areas and got success. I am very excited and happy to get the player-of-the-match award. My performance was very vital for the team," said Emon, who also said he wants to bowl in good areas in Sunday's final against India, who beat Sri Lanka by the same margin in the day's other semifinal in Sharjah.

Meanwhile, Tamim was hopeful of retaining their title, saying, "Inshallah, we will try to give our best in the final."

Last year, Bangladesh beat hosts UAE by 195 runs to clinch their maiden U-19 Asia Cup title.