Abdul Gaffar Saklain drove straight through the off side for four. That boundary from Saklain was not just any four — with one stroke in Darwin today, he settled two matters at once. Bangladesh High Performance (HP) XI booked its place in the semifinal by beating Northern Territory Strike.
Bangladesh HP won by 3 wickets with 10 balls to spare against Northern Territory Strike in Darwin today, confirming their place in the semifinal of the Top End T20 series. With 5 wins and 1 loss from 6 matches, HP now sits atop the table with 10 points. Adelaide Strikers Academy and Victoria CA, in second and third place, both have 8 points.
Northern Territory Strike and Hyderabad Kingsmen Academy, in fourth and fifth place, have 6 points each. Only Adelaide and Victoria still have a chance to reach 10 points, since both teams have played 5 of their 6 matches. Among the nine teams, Hobart Hurricanes Academy sits at the bottom, having lost all 5 of the matches they’ve played. Australia Capital Territory is eighth with 2 points. New Zealand A and Nepal are sixth and seventh, tied on 4 points each.
Chasing a target of 144, Bangladesh HP batted aggressively from the start, losing wickets along the way. HP was reduced to 41 for 2 in 4.5 overs. Ariful Islam and Habibur Rahman Sohan scored 10 and 22 runs respectively. Shamim Hossain Patwary and Sabbir Rahman then added 34 runs for the third wicket.
Reilly Mark broke that partnership by dismissing Shamim (11) on the third ball of the 10th over. Sabbir and captain Irfan Shukkur then put on a 35-run stand for the fourth wicket. Tom Menezes broke that partnership by dismissing Sabbir on the first ball of the 15th over. Sabbir scored 47 off 37 balls with 4 fours and a six.
After Sabbir’s dismissal, HP’s innings suffered a brief collapse. From 110 for 3, Shukkur’s side slipped to 123 for 6 in 16.5 overs in quick succession. Shukkur and S.M. Meherob departed after scoring 17 and 8 runs respectively. With just four runs needed for victory, Samiun Bashir Ratul was dismissed. He scored 14 off 8 balls with a four and a six. Menezes trapped Ratul lbw on the final ball of the 18th over.
At that point, Bangladesh HP needed just one more ball to finish the match. Saklain played out a dot ball off the first delivery of the 19th over, bowled by Wes Agar. He hit a four off the second ball to seal HP’s 3-wicket win. Sabbir’s 47 was the highest score in Bangladesh’s innings. Mark and Menezes each took two wickets.
Earlier, Northern Territory captain Hamish Martin won the toss and chose to bat first. Batting first, the team scored 143 for 9 in 20 overs. Jordan Silk was the innings’ top scorer with 31. HP’s Mohammad Rubel took 5 wickets for 24 runs in 4 overs. Ratul, Rakibul Hasan, Meherob and Mrityunjoy Chowdhury each took one wicket.