Liton double-ton puts East on top

A double-century from Liton Das dominated proceedings on the second day of the first round of the Bangladesh Cricket League, the country's premier four-day cricket competition.

The wicketkeeper-batsman scored 219 off 241 balls to help Islami Bank East Zone take a 133-run lead over Walton Central Zone at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra yesterday. While Liton prospered at one end yesterday, the rest of the batsmen failed to score. Had it not been for Abul Hasan's 40 at number eight, Liton probably would not have been able to reach his double-hundred, his personal best.

A batsman who had smashed more than 1000 runs in the Dhaka Premier League back in 2015, Liton has had a stop-start international career. He managed to debut in all three international formats in 2015, but has not been a part of the team since that year.

The 22-year-old's exquisite on-drives are worth watching and he hit many of those during his 241-ball knock. He hit 26 fours and four sixes before becoming one of the three victims of spinner Taibur Rahman in the 86th over. They were eventually bundled out for 367 in 88.3 overs.

Walton Central Zone's Shuvagata Hom was the main reason why East Zone did not run away with the game. It was thanks to his five for 101 that the lead was kept in check. Taibur chipped in with figures of three for 50. After the exchange, Central lost the wicket of Saif Hassan and finished the day on 65 for one, trailing by 78 runs. 

Meawhile, BCB North Zone continued their dominance against Prime Bank South Zone at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. Veteran batsman Naeem Islam stepped up for North Zone and scored an unbeaten 176 off 457 balls, finishing the day with a low strike rate of 38.51.

That is not a surprise though, since that is essentially how Naeem likes to bat. He managed to score 12 fours and two sixes during the knock so far. This is also partially the reason why North Zone managed to score 474 runs in around 184 overs. They have batted out the first two days at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, but will need to declare soon if they want to push for a win.

34-year-old Abdur Razzak still seems to have plenty of stamina. He has so far bowled 60 overs in the first innings and has scalped three wickets. He bowled in tandem with Shohag Gazi, who took two wickets in his 49 overs. If nothing spectacular happens, this game is likely to be a draw. 

SCORES IN BRIEF 

WALTON CENTRAL ZONE VS ISLAMI BANK EAST ZONE 

WALTON CENTRAL ZONE: 224 and 65 for 1 (Shamsur 29 not out, Rakibul 29 not out; Ebadat 1-25)  

ISLAMI BANK EAST ZONE: 367 all out in 88.3 overs (Liton 219, Mehedi 41; Shuvagata 5-101, Taibur 3-50) 

BCB NORTH ZONE V PRIME BANK SOUTH ZONE 

BCB NORTH ZONE: 474 for 7 (Naeem 176 not out, Jahurul 65; Razzak 3-174, Gazi 2-105)