Joy leads Bangladesh A to thrilling victory against Pakistan A
An all-round performance from captain Mahmudul Hasan Joy helped Bangladesh A secure a thrilling 5-run victory over Pakistan A in the second and final four-day game today at Darwin in Australia.
Having done so, Bangladesh A, originally the High Performance (HP) team of Bangladesh, drew the two-match series. Pakistan Shaheens, playing as Pakistan A won the first game by 148 runs.
Resuming the day at 136-4 and requiring 160 runs more to win the game, Pakistan A finally fell short of six runs, largely due to Joy who finished with 5-21.
Pakistan A eventually bowled out for 290, chasing the victory target of 296.
Apart from his five-for, Joy scored 69 and 65 runs in his two innings in the match.
Joy kept Bangladesh A’s nose ahead, dismissing his opposite number Shahibzada Farhan for 68 on day three. On day four, when Bangladesh needed six wickets to complete a victory, Joy took two crucial wickets of Tayyab Tahir and Omair Yousuf who scored 43 and 45 runs respectively.
Overnight unbeaten batter Haseebullah Khan added just 7 runs to be out on 51 when fast bowler Rejaur Rahman Raja rattled his stump.
Tahir and Yousuf then brought the side back into the contest, sharing 65-run for the sixth wicket stand as Pakistan A appeared to be in control. However, when Joy dismissed both of them in the space of 10 overs, Bangladesh sneaked a chance.
But Mohammad Ali and Khrurram Shahzad came up with massive resistance to keep the side in the contest.
Joy then stepped up again when his frontline bowlers failed to inflict a breakthrough. He got the better of those two batters in his consecutive overs to bring Bangladesh A in pole position again. Shahzad made 28 while Ali chipped-in-with 21.
Hasan Murad then brought an end to Pakistan A innings, removing Faisal Akram for 1 as Bangladesh completed a fascinating 5-run victory.
Put into bat first, Bangladesh A were bowled out for 258 in its first innings with Aich Mollah supporting captain Joy with 55 runs. Pakistan A were dismissed for 179, handing Bangladesh A a 79-run lead.
Bangladesh A then put up 216 in its second innings, to give second string Pakistan a victory target of 296. Mollah hit 58 to come up as Joy’s ably support in this innings too.
