First blood to Bangladesh

Bangladesh U-19 234 (Mithun Ali 59, Pathirana 5-52) beat Sri Lanka U-19 221 for 7 (Silva 51*) by 13 runs
Scorecard

Bangladesh edged a 13-run win over Sri Lanka in the first of five Under-19 ODIs at Bogra. It was a victory that underlined the form shown in their 3-2 win over Pakistan earlier in the month.

Sri Lanka's decision to bowl was immediately vindicated when Denuwan Fernando trapped Rony Talukder leg-before with the first ball, but wicketkeeper-batsman Mithun Ali then took charge, hitting two sixes in his 58. From 67 for 1, Bangladesh stuttered, losing three wickets for 30, before Mahmudul Hasan and Suhrawadi Shuvo, the captain, put on 76 in five brutal overs, with Shuvo bludgeoning four sixes.

Seemingly set for a daunting score, slow left-armer Sachith Pathirana put the brakes on the innings, taking the last four wickets as Bangladesh slid from 219 for 6 to 234 all out, only managing 15 runs in the last nine overs.

Sri Lanka eased to 92 for 1 in 21 overs and were well on course but Bangladesh's three spinners slowly choked the life out of the innings, their 29 overs conceding 112 runs at a time the batsmen were looking to accelerate. Although Roshen Silva finished unbeaten on 51 his innings was not enough to overcome the damage.