Bangladesh Under-19's opener Pinak Ghosh scored an unbeaten half-century guided Junior Tigers to the semifinals of the ACC Youth Asia Cup Cricket 2017 at the expense of India as they defeated the powerful neighbor to complete group phase as champions with all-win record at the Royal Selangor Club ground in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Pinak made unbeaten 81 helped Bangladesh register a thumping eight wicket win over defending champions in their last group-phase match, to secure a berth in the semis.Bangladesh reached 191 for 2 in 28 overs after restricting India to 187-8 in their rain curtailed 32-over match that ensured them a place in the semi-final against Pakistan on Thursday. Left-hander Pinak faced 77 balls for his 81 run knock while Towhid was not out on 48 off just 32 balls with four sixes and two fours at the end.
With the day's debacle, India made an early exit from the meet with one win and two losses beating only hosts Malaysia by 202 runs in the first match while Nepal made a semifinal berth with two wins and one loss beating Malaysia by 8 wickets on Tuesday after beating India by 19 runs.
Sent in to bat first in the day's match, India scored 187 for 8 in a curtailed 32-over-a-side match due to rain. In reply, Bangladesh easily reached their target scoring 191 runs for the loss of only two wickets in 28 overs. Bangladesh made a good start in the match scoring 82 runs in 13.1 overs in the opening stand by Naim Sheikh and Pinak Ghosh and later Pinak Ghosh again pairing with captain Saif Hassan added 26 runs in the 2nd wicket stand.