A stunning century from young Bangladeshi player Sabbir Rahman helped BCB XI chased down 268 posted by Pakistan in the one-off practice one day match at Fatullah.
Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali having won the toss elected to bat first. The BCB XI squad was revised on the day, as Tamim Iqbal replaced scheduled captain Nasir Hossain.
The visitors were cruising at the initial stages of the match with experienced Mohammad Hafeez playing a fluent knock.
Azhar Ali opened with the bat, and looked good till he perished at the hands of Muktar Ali. After the first wicket fell, there were a couple of stop-start innings from Haris Sohail and Sarfraz, but none could capitalize on the starts. Fawad Alam had a huge impact in the latter stages of the game, as he unleashed an intelligent unbeaten 67, partnering Saeed Ajmal in the end after wickets tumbled and Pakistan were struggling at 228 for 9 in the 47th over.
A neat 40-runs partnership between the two ensured a big total of 268 on the board: meaty enough for BCB XI as thought during the innings break.
As the run-chase began for the hosts, potential national team opening pair of Tamim and Rony lasted 15 balls, adding just 9 to the scoreboard: all coming from Tamim’s bat. Rony got out for naught, and Tamim followed. Instead of showing caution to the wind, Liton and Sabbir came to crease with aggressive intent, riding the initial scare of Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali and Saeed Ajmal. Liton played a fluent knock of 22 before being dismissed by Ajmal. Sabbir was then partnered by Mominul with a lot of work to do at 45 for 3 in the 13th over.
Mominul was patient, and Sabbir flamboyant, and the runs started to flow for BCB XI especially against the part-time spinners that Pakistan put forward. After Mominul’s departure at 81 for 4 in the 19th over, out came a struggling Imrul Kayes. While he held one end not so convincingly, Sabbir blasted a few out of the park, even Saeed Ajmal being one of his victims.
The 124-run 5th wicket stand took BCB XI to a solid position in the match to chase down the target. And that was when the drama began to unfold.
A brilliant Wahab Riaz yorker took Imrul’s leg-stump: infact breaking to the extent it had to be replaced. Shuvagata Hom and Muktar Ali were then picked up by Junaid in consecutive deliveries, while Sabbir stood on the other end as fluid as a breeze, scoring a well-deserved century at better than a run-a-ball.
When Sabbir finally got out with the score at 213, it was upto the tail to wag. Shohag Gazi provided some much needed runs with wickets falling, and was ably supported by Mohammad Shohid. Things got nervy after Gazi was castled by Juanid in his final spell, leaving the last wicket-stand of Shohid and Taijul Islam to get to the remaining 10 runs from 19 deliveries.
The Pakistan left-hand fast bowlers did their bit to keep things interesting, and the last pair was lucky to get not one or two but three edges to the boundary which finally got Bangladesh across the line with 7 balls in hand. An ecstatic Shohid jumped in joy as Taijul edged the winning runs, but Pakistan would feel it could have gone both ways till the end.
It was a thoroughly competitive practice outing for the visitors, and the defeat might symbolically hint at how difficult it might be for Pakistan to face Bangladesh all throughout the series. (AFP)
