DARWIN: Pakistan Shaheens’ pace bowler Khurram Shahzad was delighted with his performance during the first four-day match against Bangladesh A at the DXC Arena on Sunday.

Shahzad took six wickets in the first innings to help Pakistan Shaheens bundle Bangladesh A for 266 runs on day three. While talking after the end of the third day’s play, he talked about his bowling plan which bore fruits, helping him claim figures of 6-72. “I tried to bowl in the right place, the plan was to not let them score runs,” said Shahzad. “Today was a good day for us, Umair [Bin Yousuf] and Mabasir [Khan] also showed good performance in batting.” Omair Bin Yousuf and Mubasir Khan put on a mammoth 177-run third-wicket partnership in the second innings to help Pakistan Shaheens extend the lead over the 400 mark. Mubasir missed out on his fourth first-class century as he got out after scoring a gutsy 95 from 134 balls with the help of eight boundaries and one six.

Meanwhile, Omair, playing his 50th first-class game, registered his 11th ton in the format. He remained unbeaten at 100 from 123 balls, which featured six boundaries and two sixes. Pakistan Shaheens declared the innings, right after Omair reached his ton, with the scorecard reading 226-3 in 47.2 overs, setting Bangladesh 428 runs to win. Khurram Shahzad believes that Pakistan Shaheens is in a dominant position and he wants to play his role in guiding his side to the victory on the last day. “We will try to win the match on the last day,” he added. He also shared his experience of his second tour of Australia and playing under Pakistan’s red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie. “This is my second tour to Australia, I am enjoying my bowling here,” he further added. “There is a lot to learn from the head coach Jason Gillespie.” Shahzad previously toured Australia in December 2023 for a three-match Test series under Shan Masood. He played one Test and took five wickets before he got injured and was ruled out of remaining games.