East crush Central Zone

Naeem falls 15 runs short of double century

Reigning champions Walton Central Zone suffered a crushing nine-wicket defeat to Islami Bank East Zone inside three days in the first round of Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) after tasting a sensational batting collapse in the second innings yesterday at Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra. 

Resuming the day on 65 for one, they were bowled out for 198 and set up a meager 56 runs target for East Zone who happily hunted down it in just 13.4 overs losing the wicket of Liton Das for six. 
Liton’s fluent 219 in the first innings however kept the team on course of a big victory as East Zone piled up 367, taking a mammoth 143 runs lead. 
Trailing by such a big margin, a superior effort was imperative but the reigning champions batted horribly to dig their own graveyards. Opener Shamsur Rahman Shuvo was the highest scorer with 51 runs. In absence of most of the senior national players who had to skip the tournament for Walton Central Zone because of national commitment, Shuvo was the person to take the onus, which he failed to show. 
The senior batsmen like Roqibul Hasan and Marshall Ayub also got the start but failed to carry on after scoring 30 and 35 runs respectively. 
Credit should go for the East Zone pacers trio—Abu Jayed Rahi, Ebadat Hossain and Abul Hasan Raju, who bowled well in tandem to push the Central Zone batsmen on back-foot. Amongst them they shared seven wickets with Raju claiming three for 42. Jayed and Ebadat scalped two apiece. Left arm spinner Saqlain Sajib played a perfect foil to them, snapping up three for 39. 
Tanbir Hayder was the other notable scorer for Walton with 27 not out. 
However Liton Das fell to a single digit figure as East Zone came down to chase the measly target. Zakir Hasan led in chasing with run-a-ball 33 and Mehedi Maruf made 14 not out as East Zone completed the inevitable in just 82 balls. 
Meanwhile, Naeem Islam fell short of 15 runs for a double century on day three as his side BCB North Zone failed to take the upperhand against Prime Bank South Zone at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. 
Naeem added just nine runs to his overnight total of 176 to be out on 185 as North Zone declared the innings on 492 for nine. Naeem’s 185 was countered by South Zone’s opener Fazle Mahmud’s 121 not out when they closed the day on 294 for four.
Apart from any miraculous incident on the final day, the match is heading towards a tame draw.  
The South Zone batsmen, led by Fazle Mahmud dealt with the North Zone bowlers in upbeat fashion and made sure they would end the scare of follow-on. 
Mahmud and his fellow opener Shahriar Nafees who made 42 shared an 80-run partnership for opening stand to set up the platform. Tushar Imran contributed 47 while Mosaddek Hossain Saikat was unbeaten on 34 along with Mahmud when the bails were drawn for day three. 
Left arm spinner Taijul Islam grabbed three for 81 for North Zone. 

 

East crush Central Zone

Naeem falls 15 runs short of double century

Reigning champions Walton Central Zone suffered a crushing nine-wicket defeat to Islami Bank East Zone inside three days in the first round of Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) after tasting a sensational batting collapse in the second innings yesterday at Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra. Resuming the day on 65 for one, they were bowled out for 198 and set up a meager 56 runs target for East Zone who happily hunted down it in just 13.4 overs losing the wicket of Liton Das for six. Litons fluent 219 in the first innings however kept the team on course of a big victory as East Zone piled up 367, taking a mammoth 143 runs lead. Trailing by such a big margin, a superior effort was imperative but the reigning champions batted horribly to dig their own graveyards. Opener Shamsur Rahman Shuvo was the highest scorer with 51 runs. In absence of most of the senior national players who had to skip the tournament for Walton Central Zone because of national commitment, Shuvo was the person to take the onus, which he failed to show. The senior batsmen like Roqibul Hasan and Marshall Ayub also got the start but failed to carry on after scoring 30 and 35 runs respectively. Credit should go for the East Zone pacers trioAbu Jayed Rahi, Ebadat Hossain and Abul Hasan Raju, who bowled well in tandem to push the Central Zone batsmen on back-foot. Amongst them they shared seven wickets with Raju claiming three for 42. Jayed and Ebadat scalped two apiece. Left arm spinner Saqlain Sajib played a perfect foil to them, snapping up three for 39. Tanbir Hayder was the other notable scorer for Walton with 27 not out. However Liton Das fell to a single digit figure as East Zone came down to chase the measly target. Zakir Hasan led in chasing with run-a-ball 33 and Mehedi Maruf made 14 not out as East Zone completed the inevitable in just 82 balls. Meanwhile, Naeem Islam fell short of 15 runs for a double century on day three as his side BCB North Zone failed to take the upperhand against Prime Bank South Zone at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium. Naeem added just nine runs to his overnight total of 176 to be out on 185 as North Zone declared the innings on 492 for nine. Naeems 185 was countered by South Zones opener Fazle Mahmuds 121 not out when they closed the day on 294 for four. Apart from any miraculous incident on the final day, the match is heading towards a tame draw. The South Zone batsmen, led by Fazle Mahmud dealt with the North Zone bowlers in upbeat fashion and made sure they would end the scare of follow-on. Mahmud and his fellow opener Shahriar Nafees who made 42 shared an 80-run partnership for opening stand to set up the platform. Tushar Imran contributed 47 while Mosaddek Hossain Saikat was unbeaten on 34 along with Mahmud when the bails were drawn for day three. Left arm spinner Taijul Islam grabbed three for 81 for North Zone.