Ejaz hits season's 1st ton

Sylhet batsman Ejaz Ahmed hogged the spotlight on the second day as he hit the first hundred of the 13th National Cricket League at the Sylhet Stadium yesterday.
When most of the top order batsmen failed to convert their fifties into three digit scores, it was number eight batsman Ejaz who drew the first blood in the competition and was not out on 100 before his side declared their first innings for a mammoth 478 for 8 against Khulna.
Sylhet finished the day perfectly when Robiul Islam removed Nazmus Sadat for one and Khulna scored 24 for one before stumps were drawn for the day.
In the other matches, Dhaka were in an advantageous position against newcomers Rangpur at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra, Chittagong managed the much-desired first innings lead against Barisal at BKSP despite scoring only 187 runs in their first essay and the other newcomer Dhaka Metro took the first innings lead against defending champions Rajshahi at the Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi.
SYLHET-KHULNA
Resuming the day on 228 for five, Sylhet declared their second innings at 478 for 8 thanks to number eight batsman Ejaz Ahmed who slammed a magnificent 100 in 150 balls with 13 fours and a six.
But before that, the two overnight batsmen Golam Mabud (79) and Enamul Haque (60) completed their fifties while Tapash Baishya was the other notable scorer with a 64-ball 47 that contained four boundaries and a six.
Ashraful Haque and Taposh Ghosh took two wickets each.
RAJSHAHI-DHAKA METRO
Resuming the day on 110 for one, Dhaka Metro lost their last eight wickets for 113 runs but still they managed a 30-run first innings lead after declaring their first innings at 223 for 9. Eight batsmen failed to reach double figure in the Metro innings.
Overnight batsman Tasamul Haque could only complete his fifty with 55 off 141 balls that saw nine boundaries while his partner Asif Ahmed also returned to the pavilion cheaply on the second morning, finishing on 71 off 93 balls with five fours and two sixes after resuming the day on 68. Shamsur Rahman was the other notable scorer with 56 off 87 deliveries that contained six fours and a six.
Saqlain Sajib was the most successful bowler with three for 61.
Rajshahi played out the day's last three overs without any damage for five runs.
DHAKA-RANGPUR
Pacer Mahbubul Alam fired on the Rangpur top order by taking the first three wickets as Dhaka finished the second day's play in a comfortable position.
Mahbubul claimed three wickets for 36 runs and left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain captured two wickets for 40 runs as Dhaka reduced Rangpur to 139-6 defending 327 runs in their first innings.
Earlier, resuming the day on 294 for eight, Dhaka were all out for 327. Taiabur Parvez added 15 runs to his overnight score of 61.
CHITTAGONG-BARISAL
Kazi Kamrul, Yasin Arafat and Nur Hossain picked up three wickets each as Chittagong managed a 59-run first innings lead.
In reply to Chittagong's first innings total of 187, Barisal were bundled out for 128.
Chittagong however also made a forlorn start in their second innings when they lost three wickets for 66 runs at stumps.
BRIEF SCORES
DHAKA: First Innings- (Overnight 294-8 ) 327 all out in 97.5 overs (Taiabur 76).
RANGPUR: First innings- 139-6 in 38 overs (Tariq 22, Dhiman 31, Saymon 32 not out; Mahbubul 3-36, Rubel 2-40)
RAJSHAHI: First Innings- 193 all out and second innings 5-0 in 3 overs.
DHAKA METRO: First Innings- (Overnight 110 for 1) 223-9dec in 73.4 overs (Tasamul 55, Asif 71, Shamsur 56; Saqlain 3-61, Mysikur 2-29, Forhad 2-2).
SYLHET: First Innings- (overnight 228-5) 478-8dec in 169.2 overs (Imtiaz 21, Sayem 71, Rumman 41, Rajin 32, Nadif 18, Mabud 79, Enamul Haque 60, Ejaz 100 not out, Taposh 47; Taposh 2-99, Ashraful 2-48).
KHULNA: First innings 24-1 in 8 overs (Anamul 21 not out, Taposh 0 not out)
CHITTAGONG: First Innings- 187 all out & second innings 66-3 in 30 overs (Nafis 23 not out, Nazimuddin 1 not out, Islamul 2-6, Rabbi 1-3)
BARISAL: First Innings- (overnight 13-2) 128 all out in 53 overs (Shaheen 28, Iftekhar 28; Kamrul 3-23, Yasin 3-27, Nur 3-36).