Bangladesh A scores a joyous victory over Pakistan A
Dhaka, 29 July 2024 (BSS) – Captain Mahmudul Hasan Joy’s all-round performance led Bangladesh A to an emotional victory over Pakistan A by five runs in the second and final match of the four-day series in Darwin, Australia today.
As a result, Bangladesh A (originally the Bangladesh High Performance (HP) team) drew the two-match series. Pakistan Shaheens, playing for Pakistan A, won the first match by 148 runs.
Resuming the match at 136-4 and needing a further 160 to win, Pakistan A eventually fell six short, largely due to Joy, who finished with 5-21.
Pakistan A were eventually bowled out for 290, chasing a target of 296 to win.
Apart from getting five hits, Joy also scored scores of 69 and 65 in the two innings of the match.
Joy kept Bangladesh A in the lead on the third day by getting his opponent Shahibzada Farhan out for 68. On the fourth day, when Bangladesh needed six wickets to secure victory, Joy took two crucial wickets of Tayyab Tahir and Omar Yousuf, scoring 43 and 45 runs respectively.
Batsman Haseebullah Khan, who was unbeaten overnight, added just seven runs to be run out for 51 as fast bowler Rejaur Rahman Raja batted him back.
Tahir and Yousef then brought their team back into the match, sharing 65 runs for six wickets and Pakistan A looked to have the upper hand. However, Bangladesh grabbed their chances as Joy dismissed both of them inside the space of 10 overs.
However, Mohammed Ali and Khurram Shahzad put up fierce resistance and tried to keep their team in the match.
Joy again stepped up when the frontline bowlers failed to make the breakthrough, striking both batsmen in successive overs to put Bangladesh A back in the lead. Shahzad scored 28 and Ali 21.
Hasan Murad then ended Pakistan A’s innings by getting Faisal Akram out for one and Bangladesh sealing a stunning win by five runs.
Batting first, Bangladesh A were out for 258 in their first innings with Aich Molla supporting captain Joy with 55 runs. Pakistan A were out for 179 with Bangladesh A taking a 79-run lead.
Bangladesh A then scored 216 in the second innings to beat Pakistan’s target of 296. Mora scored 58 and again appeared as an able supporting player to Joy in this innings.
