Towhid Hridoy’s hundred coupled with Afif Hossain’s jaw-dropping all-round performance engineered Bangladesh to rout their Canadian counterparts by 66 runs in the second fixture of the ICC Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand yesterday.

By virtue of the runaway victory, Bangladeshi youth registered two wins in back-to-back matches. Mathematically, they are now one step away from their giant step of the super league quarter-finals berth of the showpiece event.

Put into bat, Bangladeshi youth compiled 264 for eight in 50 overs, after which Canadian youth managed to put on all-out 198 in 49.3 overs.

At the Bert Sutcliffe Oval of Lincoln surface, the youth Tigers initially lost their opener Pinak Ghosh by Faisal Jamkhandi, who then mislaid Tigers captain Saif Hassan. Actually Jamkhandi posed a major threat to Bangladesh batsmen by waging onslaught on Bangladesh innings. Toronto-born young pacer showcased his best-ever performance with 5-48.

Towhid Hridoy therefore made a gritty resistance and stitched together the innings with Mohammad Naeem and Afif Hossain on route to his successful 122. Hridoy clouted 62 with Naeem for the third-wicket and an invaluable 111-run with Afif for the fourth-wicket partnership that crossed the 200-run mark.

Though opener Naeem fell three runs shy of his fifty, Afif Hossain completed fifty off 59 ball with five boundaries and one six before being bowled.

Towhid was the last batsmen to fall for Bangladesh. His classy 122 off 126-ball innings emblazoned with nine fours along with one six.

In reply, Canada made a good start through their top-order batsmen but they later failed to restore the momentum because of all-rounder Afif Hossain, who unsettled the opponent tent’s batsmen with his sheer spin web. Afif, who already savoured the top-flight cricket including Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) besides National Cricket League (NCL), Dhaka Premier League (DPL) and Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) inserted his name by hitting half-century while his team was sagging and then picking up a five-for to seal the deal.

The young spinner claimed five wickets including the prized wicket of Arslan Khan, who top-socred for Canada with 63. He conceded 43 runs to take up his sublime stake and later was adjudged man of the match. Captain Arslan faced 108 balls, where he clattered four boundaries to make his 63.

Pranav Sharma (34), Akash Gill (22), Kevin Singh (24) and Kavian Naress (not out 26) were the other contributors of the losing side.

Bangladesh captain Mohammad Saif Hassan was happy at his team’s performance:

“We played very well. First (we lost) two early wickets and then (there was) the recovery. Then we had some good batting partnerships Towhid got a hundred and Afif got a fifty and we had a good score on the board. Then the bowlers did the job very well,” he said.

The youth Tigers will next face off English Lions in their third and last Group-C clash at the Queenstown Events Centre ground on Thursday.

In the other match of the day, England thrashed Namibia by eight wickets as they chased down the paltry 197-run target with 155 balls remaining. William Jacks (73*) and Harry Brook (59) steered the ship for the England colts after the two openers — Savin Perera (26) and Tom Banton (21) — failed to convert their starts.