Khulna scrape; Dhaka cruise
It was a scintillating fourth and final day of the fourth round of the National Cricket League as Khulna Division and Dhaka Division sealed victory over Rangpur Division and Rajshahi Division respectively yesterday.
At the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur Khulna resumed the day on 130 for five, needing 73 more runs to win. Overnight batsmen Mahedi Hasan and Ziaur Rahman started the day cautiously and both reached fifties as the chase started to look like a simple one for Khulna, who reached 177 for five, just 26 runs adrift of the target.
But Rangpur’s left-arm spinner Sohrawardi Shuvo had other ideas. He removed Mahedi for 56 to break the 109-run sixth-wicket stand and made it a double blow by removing Ziaur for 53 in his next over. 184 for seven became 187 for nine as off-spinner Mahmudul Hasan dispatched Abdur Razzak and Rubel Hossain in successive deliveries.
Moinul Islam and Abdul Hamid then came together and navigated tense waters an took Khulna home with an unbeaten 16-run stand, keeping Khulna on top of the Tier 1 points table with two wins in four games.
Shuvo ended up with the figures of six for 55 from 18.4 overs, but his 22nd first-class five-wicket haul was not enough to lift Rangpur from the bottom of the table as they are yet to register a win in four games.
In Cox’s Bazar, Dhaka clinched a convincing innings and four run win over defending champion Rajshahi.
Rajshahi started the day on 77 for three, needing 168 more runs to make Dhaka bat again. Their chances of doing that took a hit immediately as left-arm spinner Najmul Islam removed overnight batsman Junaid Siddiqui without any addition to his previous day’s score of 41.
Taibur Rahman then removed Nazmul Hossain Shanto for 51 before Saif Hasan, the batsman who was included in the Bangladesh Test squad for the two-Test series in India, displayed his off-spin ability.
Saif first removed Sabbir Rahman leg-before for the team top score of 58 off 102 balls, which included three sixes and as many boundaries, and followed it up by dismissing Muktar Ali for 11.
Saif went on to pick up his third wicket, that of Forhad Reza, and notched his best figures in first-class cricket of three for 15 from 6.2 overs. Rajshahi were eventually bundled out for 241 runs shortly after the lunch break.
Earlier, Rajshahi were all out for 230 in their first innings and Dhaka replied with a mammoth 475 for five, riding on three hundreds from player-of-the-match Shuvagata Hom, Taibur and skipper Nadif Chowdhury.
With one win, two loss and a draw Rajshahi are struggling in third position in the Tier1 table with 13.16 points. Dhaka, on the other hand, registered their first win of the league and are in second place behind Khulna with 20.6 points.
On Monday, Tier 2 sides Sylhet and Dhaka Metropolis registered wins over Barishal and Chattogram respectively on the third day of the round.
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