Rain washed out the GD (Game Development) Trophy final between Bangladesh’s Under-23 and Under-19 sides at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Wednesday, with the Under-19 team declared champions based on the group-stage standings.
The match was delayed twice by rain before another downpour around 6.30pm forced the floodlights to be switched off. With conditions worsening, the officials abandoned the contest.
The Under-19 side finished top of the group with six points from four matches, including three wins. The Under-23 side had five points from two wins and one defeat. The teams had also shared one win each in their two group-stage meetings.
Earlier, the Under-23 side were bowled out for 245. Tafiul Alam Tamim was the star performer with the ball, taking six wickets for 36 runs in 8.4 overs. The Under-23 batters managed no runs from 36 of his deliveries.
The Under-23 side struggled early after being put into bat. They were 23 for one after 10 overs and slipped to 30 for three in the 13th over, when Tafiul dismissed Azizul Hakim for 15 and Rizwan Hossain for a duck.
Kalam Siddiq and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Abdullah then added 52 for the fourth wicket. Kalam made 24 before Abdullah scored 47 from 54 balls.
An 86-run partnership between Ahrar Amin and Debashis Sarkar helped the Under-23 side recover from 102 for five. Ahrar made 46 before Tafiul dismissed him, while Debashis was caught at midwicket off the same bowler.
Mahfuzur Rahman added 31 from 26 balls, including two sixes, to take the total towards 250. Sheikh Atikur Rahman Akash took three wickets for the Under-19 side.
The Under-19 chase was repeatedly interrupted by rain. Their first revised target was 223 from 44 overs, but they were 27 for one after 5.1 overs when play stopped again.
The target was later reduced to 161 from 23 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. The Under-19 side reached 99 for five in 17.2 overs before rain ended the match.
Farhan Sadik top-scored with 29 from 15 balls, while Ahsan Al Mumin made 24.
With no further play possible, the Under-19 side were awarded the GD Trophy on the basis of their superior group-stage record.
