Riyad back on track

Mahmudullah Riyad, who vowed to utilise the final round of the Bangladesh Cricket League to the best possible extent, scored his seventh first-class century yesterday as he helped Walton Central Zone recover from a pitiable 62 for 4 in Mirpur yesterday.

Riyad's 113, on a rather bouncy Mirpur wicket, combined with Marshall Ayub's 87, led Central to 278 for 8 by stumps yesterday.

Central Zone began the game in the worst possible manner. Their openers, Abdul Majid and Rony Talukdar, who have been their pride and glory for much of this season, were removed for nought. After electing to bat, Central found themselves in a precarious 0 for 2 and their opponents, BCB North Zone sniffed an early exchange in innings.

To make matters worse, Rakibul Hasan was run out by Naeem Islam in the seventh over and Mahmudul Hasan trapped Mehrab Hossain Jr in front.

That's when Riyad and Marshall stepped up with a 148-run stand for the fifth wicket to lead Central's recovery. Forced to play at number six, an out-of-form Marshall gave Riyad good company at the crease as the pair eased out the pressure created due to the early wickets with some cautious batting. There were the odd boundaries during the stand, but it mostly motored along singles. Both batsmen faced more than 200 deliveries and spent quite some time in the middle.

While Riyad hit eleven fours and two sixes, Marshall drove eight fours. Riyad, who had earlier described the final round of the BCL as an 'opportunity for him to regain his form ahead of the India series', reached his century just before tea and seemed to be relieved.

His partner could have achieved the same mark; however, wickets were falling quickly at the other end following Riyad's departure. Under pressure, Marshall was trapped in front courtesy of a flighted delivery from Taijul Islam.

The slow left-armer ended up dismissing Shuvagata Hom and Mosharraf Hossain as well and finished the day with figures of 4 for 106.

In the top of the table clash in Chittagong, Abdur Razzak's Prime Bank South Zone finished the day on a strong 272 for 2. They rode on unbeaten half-centuries from Mithun Ali and Shahriar Nafees. While Imrul Kayes, who scored 56, missed out on an opportunity to score a big one, Mithun and Shahriar carried on with an unbeaten 161-run stand.

Mithun hammered 13 fours in his 88, while Shahriar scored 11 fours in his 79. They will want to continue their scoring and hope to put their opponents under pressure when play resumes today.

The winners of this match will win the championship. South currently lead the table with 35 points while Islami Bank East Zone have 32.

Scores in brief
SOUTH ZONE: 272 for 2 (Mithun 88 not out, Shahriar 79 not out; Kamrul 1-45) v EAST ZONE
CENTRAL ZONE: 278 for 8 (Mahmudullah 113, Marshall 87; Taijul 4-106, Muktar 1-30) v NORTH ZONE