West Indies reached the final of ICC Under-19 World Cup beating Bangladesh by 3 wickets in the second semi final in Dhaka on Thursday. Wining toss at Shere Bangla National Stadium in the capital`s Mirpur, the hosts elected to bat first in the crucial semi-final clash and scored 226 runs all out in their 50 overs In reply, West Indies surpassed the target in the 49th over with 3 wickets remaining. Chasing a moderate target of 227 runs, West Indies started piling up runs in quick fashion. Gidron Pope and Tevin Imlach added 44 runs off 30 balls in the opening stand. However, Bangladesh skipper Mehedi Hasan Miraz stuck to claim the openers in his back to back overs. . Pope scored 38 runs off 25 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes while Imlach`s contribution was 14. Shimron Hetmyer`s 60 off 59, Keacy Carty`s 22 and Shamar Springer`s unbeaten 62 off 88 balls snatched away the dream of Bangladesh`s first ever final of an ICC event. Bangladesh left-arm spinner Saleh Ahmed Shawon claimed 3 wickets for 37 while Mohammad Saifuddin and Mehedi Hasan Miraz bagged 2 each. Earlier when batting, Bangladesh opener Pinak Ghosh returned for a duck as he was caught by Paul off Holder in the last delivery of second over. It was supposed to go the boundary. Instead, Pinak got under it and sliced it straight down third man`s throat and went to the pavilion. It was the big wicket for West Indies to go hard in the foggy morning. Saif Hassan (10) followed Pinak in the seventh over. He faced a shortish on leg by Joseph and picked out square leg. The pace hustled Saif who went through with his pull. The ball hustled onto him and hit the upper half of the bat, and Saif lobbed towards square leg who came in to hold onto a low catch. Nazmul Hossain Shanto, also a big wicket, is the third man who lobbed to the pavilion. John delivered to Nazmul (11) who looked to flick through midwicket but the ball took the leading edge to cover and Hetmer caught it. Zakir Hasan and Joyraz Sheik attempted to resist the Windies pacers and added 30 runs off 52 balls in the 4th wicket partnership. However, Sheik was bowled by Springer as he tried to guide a slower outside off legcutter to third man but got a thick inside edge which clatters into the stumps. The 19-year old batsman scored 35 runs off 54 balls with 5 boundaries. Zakir (24) could not able to stretch his innings as he was bowled by Holder in the 28th over. Bangladesh lost fifth for only 113. From there on, skipper Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Mohammad Saifuddin added 85 runs in the 6th wicket. Saifuddin was bowled by Keemo Paul in the 4th delivery of 46th over just after a ball Miraz was caught by Frew at mid off. The Bangladesh skipper scored 60 off 74 balls hitting 7 fours while Saifuddin added 36 off 55 with 3 boundaries. Mosabbek Hossain added quick 14 runs at the end to help Bangladesh cross two hundred. Mehedi Hasan Rana was unbeaten on 10. West Indies pacer Keemo Paul bagged 3 wickets for 20 while Chemar Holder and Shamar Springer both claimed 2 wickets for 36 runs each. Shamar Springer was awarded Man of the Match prize for his match-winning unbeaten 62. West Indies will face India in the final of the tournament on Sunday at the same venue.
