Awesome Alamgir

Alamgir Kabir produced a magical spell of 8-62 as the Bangladesh Under-23 team staged a comeback on the first day of their two-day match against Max Academy of Sri Lanka at Rangri Stadium in Dambulla yesterday.

The brilliant bowling of the 22-year-old Rajshahi medium paceman put the screws on the free flowing home side innings as they collapsed to 278 all out in 91 over despite a brilliant century from opener Paranavitharana.

Bangladesh were 1 without loss at stumps.

Paranavitharana scored a polished 108 after the home team were asked to bat by Bangladesh captain Nafees Iqbal.

He also shared 166 runs for the third wicket with Wijeratne after Alamgir's double strike with the new ball had left the Academy team tottering on 15-2.

While the rest of Bangladesh bowling struggled to make an impact, Alamgir was the lone man making all the impression and broke the menacing partnership dismissing Wijeratne for 65.

Alamgir then ripped through the Academy batting to complete a feat he had never achieved at any level of cricket.

The right-arm seamer played only one Test against Sri Lankan last year. He bowled 15 overs without any success in his one-off Test appearance in Colombo before being dropped from the national team. He had also not achieved a five-wicket haul in the domestic first-class competitions.

But his Thursday's exploits of 24-8-62-8 showed that he was keen to learn from his disappointment.

Alamgir had also played a significant part in touring team's resounding innings and 81-runs victory against the Combined District Eleven at the same venue on Tuesday.

Young left-arm spinner Nadeef Chowdhury, who was the hero of the last match with match figures of 7-43, captured the other two wickets including the prized scalp of centurion Paranavitharana. He finished with two for 47.