North stutter but East start strong

The fifth round of the Bangladesh Cricket League rolled onto the field on the second day after there was no play on the opening day due to rain.

However, due to a wet outfield only 31.4 overs were played at the Shahid Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi where North Zone stumbled to 92 for five. Taskin Ahmed provided the early breakthrough by removing Mizanur Rahman for 19 and then took another important scalp, that of Sabbir Rahman.

Junaid Siddiqui looked settled before left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny dismissed the southpaw for 35. While North were losing wickets at regular intervals, Naeem Islam kept his cool at the other end during an unbeaten 70-ball 29.

At the Shahid Chandu Stadium in Bogura, Yasir Ali hit an unbeaten 70 as East Zone made a good start against South Zone.

Rony Talukdar and Imrul Kayes provided the platform with a 75-run stand for the opening wicket. However, the loss of three wickets within ten overs put East Zone in a spot of bother before a 103-run fourth-wicket partnership between Yasir and Mohammad Ashraful steadied the ship.

Ashraful scored 37 off 96 balls with four boundaries.

SCORES IN BRIEF

EAST ZONE V SOUTH ZONE

East Zone: First innings 204 for four in 67 overs (Rony 40, Imrul 37, Yasir 70 not out, Ashraful 37, Mahmudul 13 not out; Al-Amin 1-20, Razzak 1-56, Mahedi 2-47)

NORTH ZONE V CENTRAL ZONE

North Zone: First innings 92 for five in 31.4 overs (Mizanur 19, Junaid 35, Naeem 29 not out; Taskin 2-28, Shahidul 1-29, Arafat 1-21, Shuvagata 1-1)