Rangpur division batsmen Liton Das (L) and Naeem Islam celebrate their hundreds on the third day of their NCL second round match against Dhaka division in Chattogram on Saturday. — BCB photos
Liton Das and Naeem Islam struck hundreds for Rangpur division on the third day of their second round National Cricket League match against Dhaka division as the match was heading towards a draw in Chattogram on Saturday.
Liton struck 122 off 189 balls in his first appearance in the on-going NCL while Naeem made an unbeaten 124 off 296 balls as Rangpur reached 334-5, replying to Dhaka’s first innings total of 556-8d in a tier-1 contest.
National stalwart Mahmudullah continued his impressive form with an unbeaten 95 off 194 balls to guide Dhaka Metro to 225-6 at stumps against Sylhet division in their second innings in Bogura.
Khulna division were on their way to their first win of the season after they bowled out Rajshahi division for 170 runs in their second innings thanks to pacer Al-Amin Hossain and left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak who bagged four wickets each in Khulna.
Chasing a below-par target of 123 runs, Khulna reached 15-1 at stumps, needing just 108 runs on the final day with nine wickets in hand.
At Fatullah, off-spinner Nayeem Hasan claimed 4-62 to help Chattogram division bowling out Barishal division for 216 runs in their first innings before they reached 50-1 to extend their lead to 190 runs in a tier-2 contest.
Rangpur v Dhaka
Resuming on 71-2, Liton and Naeem continued to punish Dhaka bowlers as they added another 127 runs to their overnight stand with Liton completing his 14th first-class hundred.
Liton was dismissed by pacer Sumon Khan after hitting 14 fours in his innings but Naeem continued his good work and struck his 27th first-class hundred and remained unbeaten at stumps of third day’s play.
Naeem, who hit 12 fours and a six, got great support from Tanbir Hayder (52 not out) and the pair shared an unbroken stand of 96 runs for the sixth wicket.
Metro v Sylhet
Sylhet, who managed to take a 73-run first innings lead, extended their dominance over Metro by reducing them to 74-4 in their second innings after they resumed on 9-0.
Mahmudullah, who struck fifties in his previous two NCL innings, then added 61 runs with Zabid Hossain (25) to bring some stability and shared 61 runs with Shahidul Islam (29 not out) for the seventh wicket to end the day with a 152-run lead.
Khulna v Rajshahi
Resuming on 227-6, Khulna managed to score 309 runs in their first innings to take a 48-run lead over Rajshahi after wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul Hasan made an unbeaten 97 off 127 balls with 10 fours and four sixes.
Nazmul Hossain and Mushfiqur Rahim made 57 and 44 respectively for Rajshahi but Khulna bowlers had the better of their exchanges, bowling out Rajshahi within 60 overs.
Al-Amin and Razzak finished with 4-17 and 4-62 respectively while Mustafizur Rahman took the remaining two wickets.
Chattogram v Barishal
Despite Nuruzzaman’s 60 off 107 balls, Barishal were bowled out for 216 runs in their first innings to concede a 140-run deficit after they resumed on 104-4.
Apart from Nayeem’s four-wicket haul, Mehedi Hasan Rana, Noman Chowdhury and Minhajul Abedin claimed two wickets each.
Chattogram lost Irfan Sukkur early in their second innings but Pinak Ghosh (30 not out) and Mominul Haque (nine not out) saw the rest of the day off without any more damage.
Brief Scores
Dhaka v Rangpur
Dhaka 1st innings 556-8dec in160 overs (Saif 220 not out; Sanjit 3-89, Suhrawardi 3-134) v Rangpur 1st innings 334-5 in 108 overs (Naeem 124 not out, Liton 122, Tanbir 52 not out; Sumon 2-70, Salahuddin 2-77)
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Rajshahi v Khulna
Rajshahi 261 all out & 170 all out in 60 overs (Shanto 57, Mushfiq 44, Al-Amin 4-17, Razzak 4-62) v Khulna 309 all out in 108.3 overs (Imrul 93, Nurul 97 not out; Shafiul 3-55) & 15-1 in 3 overs.
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Chattogram v Barishal
Chattogram 356 all out & 50-1 in 19 overs v v Barishal 1st innings 216 all out in 82.3 overs (Nuruzzaman 60, Rafsan 49; Nayeem 4-62)
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Metro v Sylhet
Metro 246 all out & 256 in 97 overs (Mahmudullah 95 not out; Imran 2-35, Enamul jr 2-73) v Sylhet 319 all out in 84.5 overs
Source: New Age.