Alauddin and Saifuddin prevail on a gloomy day

Alauddin Babu from Brothers Union and Abahani's Mohammad Saifuddin set the tone for victories of their respective sides during their Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division T20 encounters on an overcast day at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.

Both matches were seemingly low-scoring in light of modern T20 standards as neither of the teams who batted first in both matches surpassed 140.

On the first match of the day, Legends of Rupganj won the toss and elected to bat first. However, their batting wasn't as good as the luck on the toss as they gave away their first wicket in the opening over to right-arm medium pacer Alauddin. 

Rupganj's eminent batting lineup kept on collapsing, giving away easy wickets to their opposition at regular intervals. Alauddin ended up with a lethal hat-trick as he finished the innings with 4 wickets, giving away only 21 runs in 3.1 overs, well exceeding his career-best T-20 figures.

This hat-trick becomes an exceptional feat for the medium pacer, which may allow him to override his bitter memory of an unwanted world record of conceding 39 runs in an over, during his side's DPL game against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club at the same venue.

While chasing 112 runs, Brothers skipper Mizanur Rahman smashed a quick-fire 52-ball 74, laced with eight boundaries and three sixes, to help his side chase down the target with 27 balls and eight wickets to spare.

Later on the day, Abahani's bowling allrounder Mohammad Saifuddin's rejuvenated batting and composed bowling display guided his team to victory of 22 runs against OLD DOHS in a rain-curtailed 19-overs-a-side match.

Abahani's formidable batting lineup had an excruciating start, giving away early wickets, as OLD DOHS gained the upper hand picking up 5 wickets in 72 runs in 13 overs.

Saifuddin's amazing capability of using the long handle proved vital as his blazing 19-balls 40 with two fours and three sixes guided Abahani to 135 for six in 19 overs [D/L method].

Chasing a pursuable total, OLD DOHS came down with a questionable leisurely batting approach -- their opening pair remained till the 9th over, yet maintained a very low strike rate, scoring only 36 runs in the process.

Opener Rakin Ahmed scored 43 runs off 44 while playing a few great cricketing shots, however his low strike rate limited his team from chasing the target. In the end, DOHS ended up scoring only 113 runs in 19 overs, despite having 7 wickets in hand.

In the last match, Mohammedan Sporting Club (158 for 4 in 17.4 overs) beat Partex sporting club (157 for 5 in 20 overs) by six wickets in Mirpur. Mohammedan's Irfan Sukkur hit unbeaten 52 off 29 balls that saw five fours and two sixes.