Rubel fires Prime Bank to semis
Opener Rubel Mia's brilliant half-century helped Prime Bank Cricket Club defeat Abahani by 49 runs and secure a place in the semifinal of the inaugural edition of the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) T20 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
Although they had started tournament with a 47-run victory over Brothers Union, Abahani -- the strongest side on paper, although yet to get their best eleven -- could not make it to the knockout stage of the tournament.
Electing to bat, Prime Bank openers Anamul Haque and Rubel provided a solid start, stringing together a 67-run partnership before the former was dismissed Zakaria Islam having scored 37 off 22 balls.
Rubel struck a 56-ball 76, eventually falling prey to Abahani all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin in the 19th over of the game but not before taking his side to a challenging total of 176 for six. Saifuddin was the pick of Abahani bowlers as he returned economical figures of 20 for one in four overs.
In reply, Abahani suffered a batting collapse at the top, with a team-high 36 runs coming from pacer Rubel Hossain at the death as they inevitably fell short to be ousted from the tournament.
The other game at the venue, between Gazi Group and Prime Doleshwar SC, was abandoned due to rain. However, the match has been rescheduled to be played today in Mirpur, as quoted in a media release.
In the first of the two matches played at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah, Sheikh Jamal registered a four-run victory by DLS method against Uttara SC in a game that was interrupted by rain.
Uttara managed 59 for five in reply to Sheikh Jamal's 72 for five -- which was reduced to a 64-run target -- and the victory saw Sheikh Jamal through to the semifinals.
The other game at Fatullah was between two eliminated sides, with Mohemmadan registering a 30-run victory over Legends of Rupganj courtesy of an all-round performance from Alauddin Babu. The all-rounder's valuable 30 runs at the death and Nadif Chowdhury's unbeaten 41 took Mohammedan to 143 for nine. Alauddin later shone with the ball too, returning figures of one for 16 runs in three overs to help his side restrict Rupganj to 113 for eight.