Rupganj tailender Taijul Islam hit a last-ball six to tie the DPL game against Victoria

The second day of the Dhaka Premier League witnessed an exciting encounter at the BKSP between Mominul Haque's Victoria Sporting Club and Mosharraf Hossain's Legends of Rupganj. The match ended in a tie after a last-ball six. 

Batting first, Victoria, guided by Mohammad Al-Amin's debut century and opener Fazle Mahmud's 73, posted 314. Rupganj's Abu Hider finished with figures of five for 52 and was the pick of the bowlers. In fact, almost all of Rupganj's bowlers were expensive. The next best was Alauddin Babu, who finished with three for 76.

At the halfway mark, it did not seem as though Rupganj would be able to chase this total down and for the first 10 overs, that seemed to be the case as Rupganj lost four wickets. They were reduced to 53 for four in the first 10 overs and they had lost all their star batsmen: Soumya Sarkar, Jahurul Islam, Junaid Siddique and their foreign recruit Ashar Zaidi.

Just when you thought they were out, Rupganj began turning the game.

Mosharraf Hossain and Nahidul Islam arrived at the crease and shared a 110-run stand for the seventh wicket. It took them from 127 for six to 236 for seven. Nahidul was sent back in the 40th over and then in came Alauddin Babu. He smacked 22 off 16 and the duo put on 39 runs in seven overs.

In the last four overs they required 32 runs and were suddenly on the attack. However, Alauddin was dismissed in the 47th over and they required 28 off 18 balls. That came down to 13 off the last over with just one wicket in hand.

Kamrul Islam Rabbi was given the ball and all he needed to do was take a wicket and finish the game. Instead, he leaked six runs off the first five balls. Taijul Islam was on strike for the last ball and he needed to hit a six to draw the game and that is exactly what the slow left-armer did. He smacked Rabbi for a six straight down the ground to emphatically tie the game.

Rupganj skipper Mosharraf Hossain was ecstatic. “Honestly speaking, we didn't think about winning the game. All we wanted to do was just play till the end.

“Cricket's a funny game and anything can happen and fortunately for us, today the game went our way. We needed 30 odd runs in the last four overs and we should have gotten them. But my wicket made things more difficult at the end. Anyway, a tie is better than a loss,” said Mosharraf.

When asked if he still believed that his side could come up trumps when 13 were needed off the last over, he said: “Well, we knew that Abu Hider could hit the ball well. But Taijul turned out to be the hitter at the end. That was great to watch.”

Meanwhile, in the day's other game at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, the Mushfiqur Rahim-led Mohammedan Sporting Club beat Shahriar Nafees's Brothers Union by 78 runs.

While Mushfiqur scored 72 off 80 balls with nine fours and a six, their foreign recruit Upul Tharanga smacked 70 off 81 with seven fours. Hard-hitting allrounder Nazmul Hossain Milon smacked a 41-ball 70 at number seven to take Mohammedan to 285. In reply, Brothers were bundled out for 207 in 49.5 overs.

At Fatullah, the Mahmudullah Riyad-led Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club eased past Kalabagan Cricket Academy (KCA) by eight wickets. Batting first, Kalabagan were bundled out for just 152. It was a target that Sheikh Jamal reached in just 26.4 overs courtesy of Mahbubul Karim's 78.

SCORES IN BRIEF 

MOHAMMEDAN: 285 for 6 (Mushfiqur 72, Tharanga 70, Nazmul 70 not out; Asif 2-44, Shahid 2-58)
BROTHERS UNION: 207 all out in 49.5 overs (Zakir 61, Nur 36; Shubashish 3-28, Habibur 2-22)
Result: Mohammedan Sporting Club won by 78 runs. 
KALABAGAN CRICKET ACADEMY: 152 all out in 44.3 overs (Mehedi 25, Bishwanath 22; Muktar 4-19, Mahmudullah 2-20, Shohag 2-45) 
SHEIKH JAMAL: 153 for 2 in 26.4 overs (Mahbubul 78, Marshall 31 not out, Mahmudullah 21 not out; Bishwanath 1-21)
Result: Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club won by eight wickets. 
VICTORIA SPORTING CLUB: 314 for 9 (Al-Amin 102, Fazle 73; Abu Hider 5-52, Alauddin 3-76)
LEGENDS OF RUPGANJ: 314 for 9 (Mosharraf 88, Nahidul 57, Taijul 17; Anamul 3-52, Dollar 2-51)
Result: Match tied.