ISLAMABAD, JULY19: A dominant opening performance, the Pakistan Shaheens began their four-day encounter against Bangladesh A today. Their captain, Mohammad Huraira, scored an incredible century without losing. After being asked to bat first in the Darwin match, Pakistan Shaheens established a strong platform on the first day of play.
Mohammad Huraira and Sahibzada Farhan, the openers, partnered brilliantly for 134 runs. Before losing to Ripon Mondol, captain Sahibzada Farhan scored 66 runs off of 83 deliveries and struck ten boundaries. Mohammad Huraira, who scored an astounding 161 from 203 deliveries with 18 fours and 1 six, took the Pakistan Shaheens by storm. Umar Amin added even more strength to the innings with a quick 54 off 77 deliveries, eight of which were boundaries.
Pakistan Shaheens had a dominant 375 for 2 at the end of Day 1. Kamran Ghulam contributed well as well, finishing the day with a strong 74 off 114 balls, 11 of which were boundaries. The star bowler for Bangladesh A was Ripon Mondol, who claimed crucial wickets of Amin and Farhan. Bangladesh A failed to contain the Pakistan Shaheens’ aggressive batting display despite these breakthroughs.
The Pakistan Academy team toured Bangladesh in 2008 and defeated the Bangladesh Academy side in both of its matches by eight wickets. This four-day match is the first time the development sides of Pakistan and Bangladesh have faced each other since then. The Second Match of the First Class series will begin on Friday, July 26. Thereafter, there will be Two One-Day Matches on August 4 and 6, and a nine-team Top End T20 series from August 9–18.
