Sanjamul stars on 3rd day

BCB North Zone's left-arm spinner Sanjamul Islam shows the pink ball with which he dismissed eight batsmen of Walton Central Zone during their Bangladesh Cricket League final at the SBNCS yesterday.Photo: STAR

An eight-wicket haul by Sanjamul Islam helped BCB North Zone bundle out Walton Central Zone for 247 runs in their second innings on the third day of the five-day final of the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday. With a 251-run winning target, a tense finish awaits on the fourth day today as North reached 129 for five at stumps yesterday, requiring 122 more to win the inaugural edition of Bangladesh's second first-class competition.
North Zone's chase began badly as they slumped to 71 for 5 in the first 19 overs. Skipper Mosharraf Hossain took two wickets, whereas Elias Sunny, Shahadat Hossain and Taskin Ahmed took one each. With the top half gone North were in desperate need of a revival and that came in the form of Jahurul Islam (39) and Sanjamul (34). They shared an unbeaten 58-run stand for the sixth wicket and cautiously guided North to stumps.
Earlier, Central Zone, resuming the day on 59 for two rode on a half-century from Rokibul Hasan, who scored a century in the first innings. He along with Mosharraf took the side past the 100-run mark. However, Mosharraf soon became Sanjamul's first victim of the day as the batsman was caught and bowled in the 33rd over. Marshall Ayub was next, caught at silly mid-off off a defensive prod in Sanjamul's next over.
Four overs later, Forhad Reza removed Central's key batsman Rokibul. Sanjamul was brought back into the attack following the wicket and the decision almost immediately paid off. He removed Mehrab Hossain Jr and Shuvagata Hom, both for ducks, in the 41st over. Central were struggling at 144 for 7 at that point.
A 74-run partnership between yesterday's hattrick hero Mohammad Ashraful and wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan for the eighth wicket revived Central and took them past 200. Both Ashraful and Nurul were removed by Sanjamul in the 62nd and 66th overs respectively. A few hits from Shahadat Hossain towards the end helped Central take a lead of 250.

SCORES IN BRIEF
CENTRAL ZONE: First innings 277 and second innings 247 all out in 68 overs (Rokibul 68, Nurul 55; Sanjamul 8-73)
NORTH ZONE: First innings 274 all out in 79.1 overs and second innings 129 for 5 in 32 overs (Jahurul 39 not out, Sanjamul 34 not out; Mosharraf 2-47)