'Maturity impacted my batting'
Batters continued their dominance on the second day of the fifth round of the 19th National Cricket League but Rangpur's Naeem Islam hogged the spotlight as he registered his maiden double hundred in first-class cricket against Dhaka Division at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna yesterday.
Naeem, who notched a Test century against the West Indies during his brief international career as well, completed his 23rd first-class hundred before going on to score 216 runs off 349 balls featuring 23 fours and five sixes. The cricketer from Gaibandha is just one ton shy of Tushar Imran's benchmark of 24 centuries in Bangladesh's first-class competitions.
This is Naeem's second hundred plus score in the ongoing tournament, as opposed to his four tons from the last edition of the Bangladesh Cricket League.
After becoming the seventh Bangladeshi to score 7,000 first-class runs the previous day, the 31-year-old resumed on 120 and continued his dominating performance. He fulfilled a long-cherished dream of hitting a he double century in the post-lunch session, reaching the feat off 341 balls in his 119th first-class game, far surpassing his previous best score of 185 runs.
"It's been a long wait to register my maiden double hundred and I was determined to achieve it this time. Obviously it feels good to smash a double century and I think my game has improved significantly over the past few seasons. I think maturity had a good impact on my batting and I want to utilise this form as much as I can without thinking of anything else," Naeem told The Daily Star yesterday.
He commanded a 182 run fifth-wicket stand alongside Ariful Haque before Rangpur declared their first innings at 560 for eight but not before Ariful completed his own century, the third ton of the innings after Suhrawadi Shuvo's 145 on the opening day.
In reply, Dhaka finished the day on 54 for one and trail by 506 runs.
At the Shahid Kamruzzaman stadium in Rajshahi, the encounter between Khulna and Barisal saw Ziaur Rahman smash his second hundred of the league, scoring 152 runs off 222 balls with 11 fours and half a dozen sixes, but eventually retired hurt as his side Khulna declared their first innings on 511 for eight. Off-spinner Shohag Gazi picked up four wickets for the bowling side before Barisal ended the day on 94 for 4, trailing by 417 runs.
Meanwhile, Rajshahi's Mizanur Rahman smashed a consecutive hundred in the NCL against Chittagong as his side scored 229 for five at stumps after bundling out the port city outfit for 260 on the first day at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra. The right-hander faced 163 balls for his 102 runs, which included 13 fours and two sixes.
At the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong, Dhaka Metro skipper Marshall Ayub missed out on his century by just two runs, being sent back for 98 as Sylhet's left-arm spinner Enamul Haque denied the batters big scores and picked up his 31st first-class five wicket haul.
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