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Bangladesh, India storm into semis

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February 20, 2001 

Bangladesh and India stormed into the semifinals of the Second Under-17 Asia Cup Cricket Tournament crushing their respective opponents at different venues on Monday.

Hosts Bangladesh marched into the semifinals as they posted their third straight win in the second version of the juvenile tournament with a 216 runs demolition of minnows Kuwait in the group-B league match at the BKSP ground-2.

Dashing opener Mohammed Ashraful hammered a century to be named man of the match, but another boy, Mustafa bin Mortaza, put his performance in shades with an explosive batting.

The number eight batsman, Mortaza, belted six over boundaries and four boundaries facing only 17 balls to make an unbeaten 60.

Mohammed Ashraful and captain Nafis Iqbal gave the hosts a good start as Bangladesh to piled up 327 for 7 wickets in the stipulated 45 overs.

The opening pair contributed 71 runs until Nafis was trapped lbw by Taleb after making 34 runs off 37 deliveries with five hits across the rope.

Ashraful, already called in the national camp for his brilliant batting in recent time, guided Bangladesh to the huge total as the right-handed opener blasted 103 runs off 99 deliveries that included 10 boundaries.

Number five Zunaid Siddique was the another notable scorer making 36 runs off 40 balls with four hits to the fence while wicket-keeper Hasibul Haq added 25 off 20 balls with two fours, and both the batsmen returned to the pavilion falling victim to run out.

Adil Asad Baig took two wickets for Kuwait conceding 78 runs in his allotted nine overs.

Chasing the huge score, the rookie gulf team were all out for 111 runs in 37.2 overs with Siam Shibli making highest 19 runs.

Shafiul Islam played the key role in wrecking the opposition batting lineup picking up four wickets for 12 runs in 8.2 overs while Mohammed Sharif took two wickets for 28 runs in 8 overs.

Brief score:

Bangladesh-327/7 in 45 overs, Ashraful 103, Nafiz 34, Zahurul 22, Junaid 36, Hasibul 25, Sharif 14, Mortaza 60 n.o., extras 25, Harmeet Singh 1/53, Taleb 1/48, Nishant 1/39, Baig 2/78.

Kuwait-111/10 in 37.2 overs, Wadia 18, Siam 19, Nishant 14, Harmeet 18 n.o., extras 15, Mortaza 1/23, Sharif 2/28, Shafiul 4/12.

At the BKSP ground-1, title aspirants India reached the semifinal with a comfortable 10-wicket victory over novice Oman in the low-scoring group-A match.

A fabulous seven-wicket haul by Kuldeep Rawat helped India demolish the Oman innings for just 46 runs in 18.4 overs. The new ball bowler Kuldeep claimed seven wickets conceding only 11 runs in his nine-over spell while B Mohanty captured two wickets for 10 runs.

One down S Kazmi was only the batsman for Oman, who decided to bat first after winning the toss, to reach double figure making 15 runs while team's second highest 12 runs came from extras.

In reply, India reached the target making 49 runs in 5.4 overs without any loss. Sachin hammered unbeaten 18 off 13 balls while his partner Parthiv remained not out with 25 runs off 21 balls.

In the day's other matches, United Arab Emirates and Nepal registered their second victory in the ICC/ACC development tournament.

United Arab Emirates, who tasted first win against Oman Sunday, defeated Malaysia by nine wickets at the Jagannath Hall cricket ground of Dhaka University.

Decided to bat first, Malaysia were bundled out for 76 runs in 32.1 overs. The highest 28 runs came from extras. In reply, UAE reached the target making 80 runs for one wicket in 8.3 overs.

Opener Amir Hossain made an unbeaten 49 off 27 balls, including eight fours and two sixes, while his partner Thomas added 23 off 25 balls.

Away at the Jahangirnagar University cricket ground, the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal earned a massive 224-run victory over Singapore.

Nepal scored a huge 295-run for six wickets in stipulated 45 overs riding on 113 runs by Manik Sreshtha. In reply, Singapore were all out for 71 runs in 20.2 overs.