Khulna romp to fifth title
Al-Amin Hossain fired up with a six-wicket haul as Khulna crushed Dhaka Metropolis inside three days to retain the National Cricket League Tier-1 title at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium yesterday.
With a massive 398-run win, Khulna took an unassailable 58 points lead after the final-round match as second-placed Dhaka Division can only go up to 54 points even if they beat Barisal in Sylhet.
“Tushar Imran was outstanding with the bat as Anamul Haque showed brilliant consistency, Al-Amin Hossain showed his ability as a longer-version bowler and overall our team effort was fantastic as we could come back strongly after rain ruined two rounds initially,” said an excited Khulna captain Abdur Razzak, adding that winning a first-class tournament is always a special feeling.
The experienced campaigner, who chipped in with three wickets to help his side demolish Dhaka Metro in their second innings, was excited with the fact that after the tournament resumed it was played in great and suitable conditions.
“The level of competitiveness definitely increased. The players are highly motivated to perform well because everybody understands the value of a first-class tournament. And I must say the weather condition was perfect when this tournament resumed after a two-month break,” he observed.
“In June-July, the weather remains hot and most of the time you get flat wickets but around this time the wickets are fresh. Except for Sylhet, all the venues have had sporting surfaces; you see for a change our pace bowlers did well in the tournament while there was little chance for them to bowl earlier,” Razzak continued.
It was Khulna's fifth title win, which helped them equal Rajshahi Division, who have not won the trophy since 2011-12.
Back to the match, after Anamul Haque, veteran Tushar Imran slammed yet another hundred on the third day as Khulna declared their second innings on 423 for five to set a 509-run target for Metro to win.
Tushar hit 138 off 169 balls -- his third century of the season and 20th in his career.
In reply, Metro were nowhere near challenging Khulna as they lost wickets like ninepins before being bowled out for 110.
In the other Tier-1 match, Shahriar Nafees slammed a hundred but still Barisal were struggling to save the innings defeat at Sylhet.
In a tier-2 match at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra, Myshukur Rahman hit an unbeaten 149 as Rajshahi came back strongly in their second innings to take a 153-run lead with seven wickets in hand at stumps as they scored 313 for three in their second essay against Rangpur.
In the other tier-2 game at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong, Sylhet extended their lead to 371 runs with five wickets in hand as they scored 136 for five in their second innings after wrapping up Chittagong for 320 runs. Nafis Iqbal missed a hundred by just one run for Chittagong.
SCORES IN BRIEF
KHULNA: 207 and 423-5 in 80 overs (Anamul 122, Tushar 138)
DHAKA METRO: 122 and 110 all out in 39 overs (Marshall 29; Al-Amin 6-41, Razzak 3-42).
Result: Khulna won by 398 runs
Player-of-the-match: Al-Amin Hossain and Anamul Haque.
DHAKA: 588-6 dec.
BARISAL: 189 all out in 39.5 overs (Salman 47; Shahadat 4-53, Mosharraf 3-46) and 259-4 in 70 overs (Nafees 104)
RAJSHAHI: 191 and 313-3 in 72 overs (Myshukur 149 not out, Junaed 68)
RANGPUR: 351.
SYLHET: 555 and 136-5 in 21.5 overs (Ruman 68; Sajjad 2-34)
CHITTAGONG: 320 all out in 100.5 overs (Nafis 99, Tasamul 60, Saifuddin 59; Jayed 5-63, Rahatul 3-101)
Comments