BKSP shock MSC
Bangladesh Biman opener Tamim Iqbal guides the ball towards thirdman boundary during his well-composed knock of 68 off 95 balls against Surjo Torun in their Premier Division Super League match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.Photo: STAR
Star-studded Mohammedan's pathetic batting display cost them dear in the Premier Cricket Super League when the title contenders crashed to a youthful BKSP at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Following the four-wicket defeat, Mohammedan were removed from the second place by archrivals and defending champions Abahani who clinched a facile 94-run success against City Club. Biman kept flying high to maintain lead in the six-team table with a comfortable six-wicket victory against Surjo Torun.
While left-handed opener Tamim Iqbal showed application during a composed half-century after his national team vice-captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's four-wicket burst at Mirpur, the picture was different at Fatullah where his national team colleagues were all miserable except Rokibul Hasan.
Nadif Chowdhury was the star in Abahani's second win in as many rounds which took them to 23 points from 13 matches, two points adrift of Biman. Mohammedan stuck to 20 points.
MOHAMMEDAN V BKSP
Mohammad Ashraful had started the super league with a challenge to be consistent but after a match winning half-century in the first game, the right-hander was bowled for only three runs when his side desperately needed his service after losing three wickets for 38.
Despite Rokibul's 91-ball 57 featuring five fours and a six, Mohammedan never recovered from the early hiccup and bundled out for 162.
However, it could be encouraging for coach Jamie Siddons and selector Akram Khan to see wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim making his back-to-back fifty which guided BKSP to reach 163 in 39.4 overs but they would surely be disappointed by efforts of Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed and Zunaed Siddiqui.
The three threw away their wickets after getting set as Ashraful played 24 balls to score three while Zunaed was trapped in front by wrecker-in-chief Mosiur Rahman after scoring eight from 22 balls. Aftab committed a crime by playing a reverse sweep against man-of-the-match Nasir Hossain to get caught at point for a 42-ball 21.
"It was really frustrating to see that nobody could carry the innings to a reasonable total," said Akram.
New ball bowler Mosiur initiated the early damage picking up three wickets while spinner Nasir also claimed three for 29 before making a 52-ball 32 that contained four boundaries and a six.
BIMAN V SURJO TORUN
Nejamuddin Ripon slammed 82 off 114 balls with nine fours and three sixes but it was not good enough for his side to put up a fighting total as Surjo Torun were all out for 155 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Pace spearhead Mashrafe combined with leg spinner Nabil Samad to demolish their opponents despite Ripon and former national skipper Habibul Bashar's (25) 79-run stand for the third wicket.
Mashrafe captured 4-16 while Nabil grabbed 3-21.
In reply, Biman posted 159-4 with nearly ten overs to spare, thanks to a polished 68 by Tamim who smote seven boundaries in 95 balls while out-of-favour Alok Kapali executed four sweetly timed boundaries in his unbeaten 31.
ABAHANI V CITY
Abahani's top batters including national opener Shahriar Nafees and captain Tushar Imran continued their poor form but they managed a decent total of 229 in 49.5 overs after deciding to bat first at BKSP.
Number six Nadif anchored the innings as the right-hander made unbeaten 80 off 84 balls with two fours and four sixes while opener Mahbubul Karim made 24.
Tail-enders Ziaur Rahman (23 off 21 balls) and Arafat Sunny (22 off 23 balls), however, threw their bat to take the team past the 200-mark.
Shafaq Al Jabir and Atiquzzaman grabbed three wickets each for City Club, who lost wickets at regular intervals and reached 135 only.
Left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique's nagging accuracy saw him concede only eight runs in 7.1 overs for three wickets while Arafat Sunny and Rezaul Karim took two wickets each.
SCORES IN BRIEF
MOHAMMEDAN: 162 all out in 47.4 overs (Imtiaz 4, Zunaed 8, Kayes 1, Rokibul 57, Ashraful 3, Aftab 21, Arshad 18, Anwar 14, Shuvo 8, Dollar 8, Tapash 4*, extras 16, Riaz 1-22, Mosiur 3-35, Nasir 3-29, Mominul 1-16).
BKSP: 163-6 in 39.4 overs (Mithun 23, Latiful 21, Aziz 5, Mushfiqur 51, Nasir 34, Mahmudul 19*, Anas 0, Mominul 0*, extras 10, Dollar 2-33, Arshad 2-43, Aftab 1-16, Shuvo 1-21).
Result: BKSP won by four wickets.
SURJO TORUN: 155 all out in 44.2 overs (Shakil 0, Shamsur 2, Ripon 82, Bashar 25, Naeem 2, Mashud 25*, Nazmul 2, Sharif 0, Delwar 0, Monwar 7, Younus 0, extras 10, Mashrafe 4-16, Mahbubul 2-33, Nabil 3-21).
BIMAN: 159-4 in 40.2 overs (Tamim 68, Nasir 15, Javed 4, Mosharraf 26, Kapali 31*, Mashrafe 7*, extras 8, Sharif 1-29, Monwar 2-40, Ripon 1-24).
Result: Biman won by six wickets.
ABAHANI: 229 all out in 49.5 overs (Jahurul 14, Karim 24, Nafees 1, Tushar 13, Sahagir 14, Nadif 80*, Rezaul 14, Ziaur 23, Rafique 9, Sunny 22, Nazmul 1, extras 14, Shafaq 3-54, Rashedul 2-33, Bashar 1-28, Atiq 3-31, Golam Hossain 1-41).
CITY: 135 all out in 42.1 overs (Mabud 23, Mamun 5, Robiul 17, Imran 10, Sumon 29, Bashar 0, Salahuddin 26, Rashedul 1, Hossain 8, Shafaq 7*, Atiq 2, extras 7, Nazmul 1-8, Zia 1-30, Rafique 3-8, Sunny 2-21, Rezaul 2-28, Tushar 1-17).
Result: Abahani won by 94 runs.
Comments