HP lose big against Pak Shaheens

Bangladesh High Performance (HP) unit finished their campaign in the Bi-Lateral 50-over series in Australia on a losing note, suffering a crushing eight-wicket defeat to Pakistan Shaheens at the DXC Arena in Darwin on Tuesday.

Asked to bat first, the HP unit lost half of their side for just 32 runs in 9.4 overs and they hardly could recover from the early collapse, getting bundled out for just 78 runs in 24.3 overs.

For the HP unit, Parvez Hossain Emon was the highest scorer, making 19 runs, while Shamim Hossain and Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby scored 13 and 12 runs, respectively.

For Pakistan, Mohammad Imran Jnr finished with 3-22 while Khurram Shahzad, Jahandad Khan, and Mubassir Khan took two wickets each.

Pacer Ripon Mondol removed Sahibzada Farhan (0) in the second over during Shaheens' short run chase before Usman Khan and Abdul Faseeh shared a 48-run stand for the second wicket to take them close to victory.

Faseeh soon became Ripon's second scalp in the contest but Usman's unbeaten knock of 39 off 45 balls, aided by Tayyab Tahir's 17 off 36 balls not out, guided them to 79-2 in 17 overs to complete a clinical win over the Bangladeshi side.

This was Shaheen's back-to-back win in the series after they beat NT Strike by four wickets in their opening match. Bangladesh HP unit earlier clinched a massive 112-run win over NT Strike in their opening match.

The HP team will now feature in the Top End T20 series and they will face Melbourne Renegades on August 11 in their opening game before facing Tasmania and Adelaide Strikers on August 12 and 14, respectively.

Their remaining three matches against ACT Comets, Pakistan Shaheens, and Perth Scorchers will be held on August 15, 16, and 17.

The semifinals and final of the T20 tournament will take place on August 18.