India U-19 post narrow win in rain-affected game

India Under-19 161 for 5 in 39.3 overs (Pandey 51, Kohli 44*) beat Bangladesh Under-19 219 for 9 (Nasir Hossain 61, Kohli 3-39) by 1 run (D/L method)
Scorecard

India Under-19 piped their Bangladeshi counterparts by one run in a rain-affected game in Pretoria. The match was the last of the round-robin stage of the triangular tournament - also featuring hosts South Africa - and both India and Bangladesh had already made their way to the final.

Chasing 220, India were at 161 for 5 after 39.3 overs, before no further play was possible due to rain. According to the revised scores tabulated by the D/L method, India were ahead of the required target by one run, thus maintaining their unbeaten run in the tournament.

For India, without Tanmay Srivastava, who had starred with his all-round performances in the tournament, Manish Pandey made 51, but it was a brisk 44 off 47 balls from Virat Kohli, the captain, and a cameo of 18 from 16 by D Shivkumar that sealed the win. Their unbroken 44-run stand from six overs proved decisive in the final result.

Dolar Mahmud and Mahmudul Hasan bagged two wickets apiece during India's chase, and had conceded only 27 runs from the 12 overs they had bowled. Bangladesh would rue the fact that their key bowlers couldn't complete their entire quota of ten. With India needing a further 59 at nearly a run-a-ball when rain intervened, they would have considered themselves in with a chance to choke the chase.

Earlier, Bangladesh were fortunate to manage 219, as they were struggling at 11 for 3 after choosing to bat. A 86-run stand for the fourth wicket between Nasir Hossain and Marshall Ayub helped them recover. Left-arm spinner KP Appanna, playing his first match of the tournament, dismissed Ayub for 38 and later got the wicket of Nasir, who scored 61. Bangladesh's captain Suhrawadi Shuvo made an unbeaten 39 to guide the team to 219; his counterpart Virat Kohli finished with figures of 3 for 39.

The two teams will meet in the final on Tuesday.