Bangladesh U19 defeated South Africa U19 in the tri-series final in Harare on Sunday (August 10) on the back of all-rounder Rizan Hossan's brilliance with both bat and ball.
Bangladesh U19 met South Africa U19 in the final of the tri-series that also involved hosts Zimbabwe, on Sunday. South Africa U19 chose to field first after winning the toss and reduced Bangladesh to 65-3. Rizan, batting at No.5, joined Kalam Siddiki at the crease and added 117 runs for the fourth wicket to take them to 182-4 in 40.2 overs.
Siddiki was dismissed for 65 off 76 balls but Rizan carried on, adding another 63 runs with Md Abdullah (38 off 29) before being run out just short of his hundred - for 95 of 96 balls. Bangladesh finished on a competitive 269-5 from their 50 overs.
Also read: Bangladesh maintain impressive U19 form with series win in South Africa
South Africa began their run-chase well, with openers Jorich van Schalkwyk (19) and Adnaan Lagadien (40) stitching 59 for the first wicket. They recovered again after two quick wickets to reach 111-2, but Rizan, a right-arm medium pacer, then struck with the ball, cleaning up South Africa captain Muhammed Bulbulia for 31.
South Africa collapsed to 164-7 before an eighth-wicket stand of 59 threatened a heist. But Rizan came back to clean up the tail, taking the last three wickets to fall in the South African innings as they were bowled out for 236, 34 short of the target. Rizan finished with figures of 5-34 from 8.1 overs to go with his 95 earlier in the game.
Only once before has a player done the double of scoring a hundred and taking a five-for in a Youth ODI - Pakistan's Qasim Akram against Sri Lanka U19 in 2022. Rizan's 95 is now the second-highest score made by a player having also taken five wickets in a Youth ODI.
Also read: Bangladesh U19 overcome obstructing the field dismissal to beat South Africa in youth ODI thriller
Final, Bangladesh Under-19 vs South Africa Under-19
vs
- Ball by ball Over
Who is Rizan Hossan?
The tri-series final capped off a successful campaign for the 18-year-old all-rounder. He scored 182 runs at 30.33, and picked up 10 wickets at 12.30 across the seven matches in the tournament.
Rizan is yet to make his senior professional debut in any format, but has been playing for Bangladesh U19s for more than two years now. From 24 Youth ODIs, he has 591 runs at 31.10 and 24 wickets at 18.12. Only 27 cricketers have scored more than 500 runs and taken more than 20 wickets in Youth ODIs. Among them, only eight are seam-bowling all-rounders, of whom Rizan is the only Bangladeshi.
Seam-bowling all-rounders have historically been a rare commodity in Bangladesh cricket. While it's still early doors and there's a long way to go before a potential national call comes up, Rizan's two-year stint with the U19 team would have raised the hopes of the Bangladesh cricket establishment.
Image credit: BCBTigers/X.com
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