Pakistan Shaheens fell five runs short of the 296-run target as the second four-day match against Bangladesh ‘A’ finished in a thrilling manner on Monday at the DXC Arena in Darwin. The pendulum kept swinging all day as Bangladesh ‘A’ bowlers took the required six wickets, striking at regular intervals, while Shaheens’ batters dug deep, eventually falling five runs short. The fourth day’s play saw 56.2 overs bowled while Shaheens scored 154 runs. Bangladesh ‘A’ skipper Mahmudul Hasan Joy led the team from front with a match-winning five-wicket haul with his figures reading 5-21 in 13 overs. At the beginning of the day, Shaheens required 160 runs to win with Haseebullah and Tayyab Tahir on the crease. Haseebullah (51, 120b, 7x4s) departed after adding seven runs to his overnight total of 44. At this point, Tayyab (43, 97b, 3x4s) and Omair Bin Yousuf (45, 103b, 4x4s) joined forces to stitch a dogged 65-run sixth-wicket partnership off 21 overs before the former succumbed to Mahmudul in 66th over.

Omair’s resistance too came to an end some 57 balls later when he was caught by Mollah off Mahmudul with Mohammad Ali on the other end and Shaheens requiring 65 runs to win. Khurram Shahzad and Ali produced a spirited eight-wicket stand of 57 runs which came off 93 balls keeping Bangladesh ‘A’ at bay. Mahmudul cleaned up Ali, who had scored 21 off 63 balls hitting four fours, with Shaheens still eight runs away from win. Seven balls later Khurram’s 57-ball rearguard, yielding 28 valuable runs with the help of three fours and one six, was ended by Mahmudul. Faisal Akram faced seven balls for his solitary run before he was bowled by Hasan Murad to give Bangladesh ‘A’ series-levelling victory. Mahmudul was aided by Rejaur Rehman Raja and Hasan Murad who returned figures of 3-85 and 2-62 respectively.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan