Bangladesh give Pakistan scare in U-17 Asia Cup

Karachi, July 15: Pakistan survived a scare before scrapping to a sensational one-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the opening match of the Asia Cup Under-17 Cricket Tournament at the National Stadium here on Saturday.

Bangladesh, sent into bat by Pakistan skipper Salman Butt, collapsed from a healthy 139 for three to 168 all out in 44.3 overs. Pakistan, in reply, reached the target with their last pair in. Najaf Shah cracked a boundary of a lone ball he faced to bring dramatic victory for the home team with three balls to spare. Nadeem returned six not out.

Pakistan, in fact, were well placed at 150 for three but off-spinner Shafi-ul-Islam triggered a collapse by picking four wickets for 23 runs on a turning track. He was named Man-of-the-Match.

Left hander Salman Butt, Kashif Raza and Suleman Qadir, son of ex-Test leg-spinner Abdul Qadir, each made 35. Salman hit five boundaries in his 54-ball knock, Kashif's 61-ball innings contained three fours while Suleman struck five fours after facing 71 balls. Kashif and Suleman added 77 for the third wicket.

Earlier Pakistan off-spinner Munir Ansari produced a splendid spell of five for 26 in 8.3 overs as Bangladesh lost their last seven wickets for 29 runs.

Bangladesh skipper Nafees Iqbal, who opened the innings, hit 63 off 112 balls with three hits to the fence to hold his team's innings together. Sharif-ul-Islam struck three fours in his 35.

Sindh Governor Muhammad Mian Soomro inaugurated the event at a simple ceremony in the morning.