Old DOHS upset Gazi

Uttam Sarker scored the first century of the season to guide Cricket Coaching School (CCS) to a comfortable 9-wicket victory over Partex Sporting Club in their opening match of the Premier Division Cricket League at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium yesterday. In a surprising result of the day, title-contenders Gazi Tank went down to Old DOHS by 44 runs at BKSP, while Biman got their mission off to a flyer with a 7-wicket victory over BKSP at Fatullah.
The stylish opener Uttam Sarker played a very commanding knock of unbeaten 109 from 119 deliveries to topple the small target of 173 in 35 overs for the loss of a single wicket. One-down batsman Atiqur Rahman scored 50 and remained not out to give his skipper good company in scripting this comfortable victory. Earlier, Partex batsmen struggled against the disciplined bowling of CCS bowlers, and limped to 169 for 8 in their allotted fifty overs. There was no notable contribution in Partex innings and they were also not helped by fact that their opener Mehrab Hossain got injured when batting on 28 and couldn't make a return.
A star-studded Gazi Tank lost to Old DOHS in a low scoring affair at BKSP. Despite restricting Old DOHS to a modest total of 171 for 7 in 50 overs, Gazi Tank crippled to 127 runs in 44.4 overs losing all their wickets, causing the first shock result of the season. Old DOHS built their innings on a fine opening stand of 73 between Wasim Nayeem (40) and Nasiruddin Faruk (38). Gazi's fast bowler Forhad Hossain took four quick wickets while left-arm spinner Sohrawardi Shuvo took two wickets to thwart the runs. Saif Mahmud, lower down the order, scored a quick-fire 31 to give his side a competitive total. Saif later took three early wickets with his fast bowling to bring down Gazi's powerful batting lineup to their knees. Left-hander Shahriar Nafees got 26 off 26 deliveries while Nazimuddin got 19. Gazi's Indian all-rounder Hemang Badani scored a duck as he got out to Pakistani spinner Waseem Nayeem. Gazi all-rounders Forhad Hossain scored 24 while Sohrawardi Shuvo scored 31 runs in the middle order to give their side hope, but as soon as they were dismissed, Gazi's innings fell apart and eventually crumbled to 127 within 45 overs.
In the other match of the day at Fatullah, Biman scored a convincing seven-wicket win over BKSP. Batting first, BKSP scored 188 losing nine wickets in their fifty overs, with highest 69 coming from the bat of opener Ashiqul Alam and 48 coming from middle-order batsman Jasimuddin. The 189-run target never looked too much as Biman opener Mehrab Hossain Jr. played an enthralling knock of 88 not out from 134 balls, while his opening partner Zahurul Islam got 30. Biman's Sri Lankan recruit Jehan Mubarak (47*) then provided support to Mehrab to overtake the target in 45.2 overs and 7 wickets in hand.