Abahani down MSC in prestigious match
Nasir, Anamul hit half centuries
Sports Reporter
Abahani Limited comfortably tamed its domestic arch-rival Mohammedan Sporting Club by comprehensive 112 runs in their traditional showdown of the sixth-round fixture in the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium yesterday.
By virtue of this victory, the 17-time DPL champion team almost confirmed their Super League slot with the consecutive six wins from same number of outings.
On the eve of the much-hype match between Abahani and Mohammedan, the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) had a special arrangement to breathe life into the tent of the two domestic powerhouse teams and its strong base of supporters.
Before the match, Abahani got down with all-win record, while Mohammedan had a record of winning three matches on the trot following their initial back-to-back matches loss.
To break Abahanis unbeaten run, Mohammedan captain Shamsur Rahman invited his opposite captain Nasir Hossain to bat first on Mirpurs Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium surface after winning the toss.
Abahani Limited compiled a seemingly daunting 259 on the back of a couple of half centuries from Anamul Haque Bijoy and Nasir Hossain.
Dhanmondi out-fit shrugged off the early loss of opener Saif Hassan as their other in-form opener Anamul Haque, who blasted 86*, 17, 41, 77, 116 in the previous matches, took up the cudgels and stitched together a pair of partnership. The wicketkeeper-batsman hit 70 runs with Nazmul Hossain Shanto (26) for the second-wicket and another 19 runs with Mohammad Mithun for the third wicket partnership that crossed 100-run mark inside 25 overs.
The right-hander clubbed two sixes and four boundaries to depart on 63.
This time Nasir Hossain appeared in the crease and accelerated the strikes with his fellow batsmen by building up a string of partnership.
En route to his 67, Abahani captain clobbered a useful 64 for the fourth-wicket with Mohammad Mithun, who unfortunately run out for 47 and another invaluable 45 for the seventh-wicket with Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who clouted a cameo 26 from 17 balls with two sixes and a four.
Fast bowler Mohammad Azim among Mohammedan bowling battery was the most successful as he snared three wickets for 26.
Chasing the target, Mohammedan Sporting Club stumble in the very initial first over when they lost their opener Jony Talukdar to Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.
Mashrafe then compounded their fuss further with his double strikes. This time the experienced fast-bowler got rid of captain Shamsur Rahman and Rony Talukdar while the Motijheel build-up were stuttering on 62 for three.
Together with Rokibul Hasan, wicketkeeper-batsman Irfan Sukkur attempted to repair the innings and made a resistance against Abahanis bowlers but that was not enough to stop the rut.
In the space of 21 runs, both Irfan and Rony trudged back to the pavilion. Irfan got out for 40, while Rokibul holed out for 28. Therefore, none could stand tall against Abahanis outstanding bowling attack and restricted to 147 with 19.2 overs to spare.
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Mehedi Hasan Miraj picked up three wickets each for the winners. The duo was aided by Manpreet Singh Gony, who bagged a pair of wickets. Later, Bijoy was named for the man of the match award.
