Ispahani Mirzapore Tea 5th National Cricket League
Batsmen dominate
Sports Reporter
Imran Ahmed and Arif Ahmed put Barisal and Chittagong in the driving seat respectively at the end of the second day's play in the Ispahani Tea fifth National Cricket League yesterday.Opener Imran hit an unbeaten 152 as hosts Barisal for the first time took a vital 76-run first innings lead after making 266 against Rajshahi. Arif (107) became the second century-maker after teammate Faisal Hossain scored exactly 100 on Day One as Chittagong piled up a mammoth first innings total of 389 for nine against Khulna at the Comilla Stadium. Away at Sylhet, leaders Dhaka limped to 147-5 at stumps in reply to Sylhet's first innings total of 331. RAJSHAHI V BARISAL Imran remained like a thorn in Rajshahi's side although the visitors kept taking wickets at the Barisal Stadium. The right-hander started the day on 19 with Barisal on 47 for three in reply to Rajshahi's paltry 190. And with his overnight partner Mustadir Litu, he shared 64 runs for the fourth wicket stand before Litu was caught by Nuruzzaman off Sohel Rana for 29. During his 282-ball knock, Imran struck 21 boundaries. Right-arm paceman Shahjada was the most successful Rajshahi bowler picking up four wickets for 64 runs while lanky pacer Shafaq Al Jabir captured three for 62 in 21 overs. DHAKA V SYLHET An all round show by Rezaul Haq Nayeem gave Sylhet the upper hand against star-studded Dhaka. Earlier, the lower-order pair Tapash Baisya and Nayeem hammered fifties to boost the home team's overnight total from 257f or 7 past the 300-run mark. The pair contributed 93 runs for the eighth wicket. Tapash scored 59 off 120 balls that featured five boundaries while his partner Nayeem was 56 not out. His 164-ball innings contained seven fours and a six. The left-arm seamer Nayeem later grabbed three Dhaka wickets. National pacer Tapash and leg-spinner Nabil Samad took the other Dhaka wickets. Dhaka middle-order batsman Sanwar Hossain was batting on 52 and Arafat Sunny was yet to open his account. Opener Mehrab Hossain was the other notable run-scorer for the capital team with 47. CHITTAGONG V KHULNA Arif's maiden first-class hundred enabled Chittagong to declare their first innings at 389 for nine at Comilla. And then Khulna fell into trouble at 81-3 by the close. Raju Parvez and Hasanuzzaman were both batting on 32. Earlier, a 150-run sixth wicket partnership between Arif and Sabbir Khan powered Chittagong who started the day on 272-5. Arif belted ten boundaries in his 288-ball innings while Sabbir made 57 off 137 balls with seven hits to the fence. New ball bowler Syed Russel finished with three wickets for 85 runs in 28 overs.
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