Nearly four years after ascending to the pinnacle of age-level cricket, the Bangladesh Under-19 team have scaled to another mountaintop when they thrashed the UAE by 195 runs in the final to clinch their maiden ACC Under-19 Asia Cup title at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Opener Ashiqur Rahman Shibly struck 129 off 149 balls, his second hundred in the tournament, while Chowdhury Mohammad Rizwan and Ariful Islam hit half-centuries as Bangladesh posted a challenging target of 283.

The bowlers then bundled out the hosts for just 87 runs to complete a thumping victory.

The aggression of the Bangladesh pace trio proved too much for the UAE batters, as Maruf Mridha and Rohanat Doullah Borson bagged three wickets each and Iqbal Hossain Emon took a couple.

The dominant victory capped off a brilliant tournament for the young Tigers where they emerged as the undefeated champions.

The team was clinical throughout the campaign, first finishing as group champions and then defeating a strong Indian team in the semifinal on their way to the final.

Player of the final and the tournament Shibly was the team's standout performer throughout the competition, accumulating 378 runs, highest in the tournament, in five games at an astounding average of 126.

Shibly was instrumental for Bangladesh in the final as well, as it was his partnerships with Rizwan and Ariful that set the base for victory.

After the early wicket of Jishan Alam, the right-hander formed an unbeaten 125-run stand with Rizwan to settle the innings and then a 76-ball 86-run stand with Ariful to power the team to a formidable 282-8.

The target was too much for the UAE, who had lost to Bangladesh by 65 runs in their previous encounter in the group-stage.

Only two host batter's could get into double figures as Bangladesh kept taking wickets in regular successions.

With the win, the Under-19 team becomes the second Bangladeshi side to earn the title of being the best cricket team in Asia.

Before them, it was the Bangladesh women's team, who defeated India in the final in Kuala Lumpur in 2018 to win the women's Asia Cup title.

As for the national men's team, the Asia Cup has remained a source of great heartbreak as despite reaching three finals in four editions, the Tigers have always faltered in the final hurdle in the continental tournament.

The maiden Asia Cup triumph also came at the right time for the young Tigers, as almost exactly one month later they will be vying to repeat the heroics of their ICC U-19 World Cup winning campaign in 2020.

The 2024 edition of ICC's flagship age-level event is scheduled to take place in South Africa, beginning on January 19, where Bangladesh have a chance to make up for their sorry showing in the 2022 edition, where they finished eighth.