Bangladesh U-19 seal semifinals spot as they crush Japan in Youth Asia Cup

Bangladesh advanced to the semifinals of the ACC U-19 Asia Cup from Group B with one match to spare, outplaying Japan by nine wickets with 232 balls remaining in their second match at the ACC Academy Ground-2 in Dubai, UAE, on Monday. After the day's second-round match, Bangladesh secured a full four points each from two matches to reach the semis and will face Sri Lanka on Wednesday at 11:30 am to decide the Group B champions. Earlier, Bangladesh made a flying start in the four-team Group B, outplaying hosts the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 61 runs in their first match last Saturday. Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel Bangladesh will play the semifinals on Friday (December 15), while the final match is billed for December 17. Sent into bat first, Japan were bundled out cheaply for 99 runs in 47.1 overs. Nihar Parmar (18), Kaifer Lake (17), and Kazuma Kato-Stafford (13) were the main contributors for Japan reaching the double figure. Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby and Ariful Islam grabbed two Japanese wickets, each conceding 9 and 15 runs, respectively. Chasing an easy target, Bangladesh faced no trouble scoring the match-winning 100 runs for the loss of Jishan Alam's lone wicket in 11.2 overs. Opener Ashiqur Rahman Shibli hammered the match with the highest unbeaten 55 runs off just 45 balls, featuring eight boundaries. Jishan Alam scored 29 runs off 16 deliveries, hitting four fours and a six, while Chowdhury M Rizwan made not out 10 runs in seven balls with a boundary. Charles Hinze took the lone Bangladesh wicket, giving away 30 runs.