Big guns all win

L-R: Mohammedan and national middle-order batsman Rokibul Hasan drives the ball on the off-side during his fine knock of 102 against City Club in a Premier Division Cricket League match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
Mohammedan captain Shamsur Rahman salutes the sparse crowd after scoring his hundred against City Club yesterday. Photo: STAR

World's number one ODI all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan shone with the ball in a batsman's day as Biman took the solo lead in the Premier Division Cricket League with a four-wicket victory over Old DOHS at BKSP yesterday.
The left-arm spinner bagged four wickets to maintain Biman's all-win record but it was a rare batsman's day in the domestic competition as three achieved the milestone of reaching three-digit figures.
Mohammedan saw twin tons from Shamsur Rahman and Rokibul Hasan as the Motijheel outfit bounced back to winning ways after two consecutive defeats which put their title race in jeopardy.
The effort of the right-hander, who shared 194 runs in a third-wicket stand, gave Mohammedan a massive total of 317, only the second time in the league that a team crossed the three-hundred mark after Abahani's 320 against CCS, to secure an emphatic 98-run victory against winless City Club at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
Imran Ahmed was the star at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium as defending champions Abahani rode on the right-hander's hundred to record a comfortable 53-run win against Victoria to register their fourth success in five games.
BIMAN-DOHS
It was a face-off between the two table-toppers and Biman finally overcame the hurdle when veteran Javed Omar played an anchor role scoring a 137-ball 75 after man-of-the-match Shakib's four-wicket haul.
DOHS made a confident start after being put into bat first but pacer Mohammad Shahajada removed Anhoor Newaz to give the first breakthrough as well as make the inroads for Biman.
DOHS lost wickets at regular interval and captain Mehrab Hossain's 41-run knock was not good enough to put up a challenging total on the board as they were bundled out for 192 in 49.3 overs.
In reply, Biman made a poor start when Nazmus Sadat was dismissed by Abul Hasan in the second over but Javed and Zahurul Islam repaired the early damage by associating 46 runs in the second wicket stand.
And then Shakib made 44-ball 32 as Biman reached 195-6 in 46.2 overs.
ABAHANI-VICTORIA
Dashing national opener Tamim Iqbal made a second-ball duck after Abahani decided to bat first but a 70-run second wicket partnership between Rony Talukdar and Imran Ahmed gave a platform to put up a fighting total of 280-7.
Inform Rony was dismissed for 39 off 48 balls that featured six boundaries but Imran continued his leather hunt to hit his first hundred with a 140 ball 109 that contained nine boundaries.
Nasir Hossain was the other notable scorer who exhilarated the run-rate during his 51-ball 66 that saw six fours and two sixes.
Taposh Ghosh picked up three wickets for 48 runs.
Abahani were however given a run for their money with Amit Majumder and Arman Hossain progressed in the opening stand as the pair contributed 114 runs before Arman was dismissed by Indian Venugopal for 56 runs.
Amit was quick to follow him for 55 runs and after that Victoria lost the momentum despite Arafat Salahuddin's 54-ball 52 and were ultimately restricted to 227-7 in their share of 50 overs.
MOHAMMEDAN-CITY
Nothing could have been worse than the way Mohammedan started their innings after deciding to bat first. The under-pressure Twenty20 champions were in big trouble when Shafaq Al Jabir removed both the openers with the scoreboard reading two.
But there was a pleasant surprise for them as Rokibul joined Shamsur to change the whole scenario to dash the lowly City's early initiatives. Shamsur smashed ten fours and three sixes during his 123-ball 127 while Rokibul returned amongst big scores in the right time ahead of the coming home series against Pakistan with a 125-ball 102 that saw nine boundaries.
And then it was the turn of Marshal Ayub to put their opponents bowlers to the sword as the young right-hander smote nine fours and two sixes during his unbeaten 69 off 32 balls.
In reply, Rasel Al Mamun (67) and Sirajullah Khadem (50 not out) hit half centuries but City were still restricted to 219 for 7.
Dollar Mahmud, Sohrawordi Shuvo and Murad Khan captured two wickets each.
BRIEF SCORES
DOHS: 192 all out in 49.3 overs (Anhoor 14, Rabbi 35, Wasim 18, Mehrab 41, Riyad 24, Ejaz 28, Emon 10 not out, extras 8; Shahadat 2-39, Shakib 4-20, Nabil 2-35).
BIMAN: 195-6 in 46.2 overs (Javed 75, Zahurul 35, Shakib 32, Sanwar 20, extras 14; Abul 2-36, Monir 2-25, Mehrab 2-48).
Result: Biman won by four wickets.
ABAHANI: 280-7 in 50 overs (Rony 39, Imran 109, Venugopal 20, Sahagir 20, Nasir 66, extras 23; Taposh 3-48, Tariqul 2-45).
VICTORIA: 227-7 in 50 overs (Amit 55, Arman 56, Sharifullah 29, Salahuddin 52, extras 10; Mashrafe 1-26, Nazmul 2-52, Venugopal 2-30).
Result: Abahani won by 53 runs.
MOHAMMEDAN: 317-5 in 50 overs (Shamsur 127, Rokibul 102, Marshal 69 not out, extras 14; Shafaq 3-55).
CITY: 219-7 in 50 overs (Mamun 67, Lalmon 13, Abbas 15, Hamidul 11, Raisul 15, Khadem 50 not out, Mahfuz 11, extras 23; Dollar 2-31, Shuvo 2-55, Murad 2-23).
Result: Mohammedan won by 98 runs.