Bangladesh Under-19 sweep aside Scotland to secure quarter-final berth

Bangladesh colts have thrashed Scotland by 114 runs to move into the quarter-finals of the Under-19 World Cup.

Nazmul Hossain Shanto cracked Bangladesh's first century of the tournament to become the top run scorer in Youth ODIs.

Bangladesh, who were tottering at 17 for 2, recovered through Shanto's 113 not out.

The dazzling innings, which took his tally to 1,747 runs, was Shanto's second match-winning knock after the 73 he scored against South Africa in the opener on Wednesday.

The 17-year old shared two century stands with Saif Hassan (49) and skipper Mehedi Hassan Miraz (51) to help his team to 256 for 6 at Cox's Bazar's Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

In reply, the hosts skittled out the Scots for just 142.

After the captain made the first breakthrough, Mohammad Saifuddin, Saleh Ahmed Shawon and spinner Ariful Islam regularly picked up wickets as Bangladesh sealed the last eight spot with one match to spare in Group A.

Put in to bat first, Bangladesh were off to a sluggish start, managing just 19 runs off the first 10 overs.

Shanto slowly gained momentum and put 101 runs on the scoreboard in 25 overs with Saif, whose 114-ball innings had just two boundaries.

After Saif was dismissed, Shanto fashioned another superb partnership with Miraz. The duo scored 100 off 98 balls that lifted Bangladesh to a strong position.

Shanto cracked 10 boundaries in his 117-ball knock as Bangladesh scored 57 runs off the last five overs.

The Scottish openers Neil Flack (28) and Rory Johnston (20) made a promising start to the chase, taking their team to 48 in 12 overs. But losing three quick wickets pegged them back and they never looked like getting back into the match.

Although Azeem Dar (50) tried to break away with a half-century, he kept losing partners at the other end. Scotland crashed out of the tournament losing their last six wickets for just 29 runs.

Saifuddin and Shawon bagged three wickets each while Ariful chipped in with two wickets.

Namibia beat holders South Africa by two wickets in the other match of the group to seal a last eight berth as the holders crashed out with two successive defeats.

Bangladesh will lock horns with Namibia for the top spot of the group in their last pool phase match at the same venue on Wednesday.