Rubel and Shuvo steer Bangladesh to series win

Bangladesh U-19s 113 for 7 (Mithun Ali 30, Hasan 19, Rahul Kumar 3-19) beat Nepal U-19s 109 (Rubel 3-19, Shuvo 3-9) by three wickets
Scorecard

It rained wickets in Savar as Bangladesh Under-19s scraped through to seal a three-wicket win in a low-scoring encounter against Nepal Under-19s. The victory was fashioned by all-round performances by Rubel Hossain and Suhrawadi Shuvo, who shared six wickets between them and later combined to guide Bangladesh home with a crucial 21-run stand.

The match was reduced to 39-overs overs a side and Nepal's captain, Paras Khadka, chose to give his batsmen the first use of the pitch. Rubel, the medium pacer, got the early breakthroughs before Nepal endured a middle-order collapse. Shuvo, the left-arm spinner and legspinner Mohammad Shakil took charge in a period where the opposition lost five wickets for the addition of only 11 runs. Shuvo bowled a particularly miserly spell, conceding just nine runs in eight overs while Shakil ended with 2 for 14 off eight overs. Puspa Thapa, who top scored with 25, was Rubel's third victim and the innings ended soon after with the score on 109.

Bangladesh's top order crumbled with half their side back in the pavilion with the score on 37. A fifty-run stand between Mahmudul Hossain and wicketkeeper Mithun Ali put Bangladesh on course to victory before a double-strike by left-arm spinner Rahul Kumar pegged them back further. Rubel and Shuvo batted out six overs to ensure a 2-0 series win, after the second match was washed out.