Taijul Islam, Bangladesh’s most prolific wicket-taker in Tests in 2018, continued his rich vein of form in the domestic arena as he grabbed six wickets to put his side Islami Bank East Zone in the driving seat on the second day of their final match at the Bangladesh Cricket League.
Taijul, who grabbed 43 Test wickets in 2018, got 6/92 to bundle out Walton Central Zone for 224 at Sylhet International Stadium to give his side a big 201-run lead before East finished on two without loss in their second innings at stumps.
East added 45 runs for their last two wickets after resuming on 380/8 and Taijul, who opened the bowling for East, utilised the scoreboard pressure and trapped Central opener Shadman Islam for 22 to draw first blood when the score was 29.
He dismissed Central skipper Nazmul Hossain Shanto for three and removed dangerous looking Abdul Mazid for 24 to reduce the opponent to 82/3.
Opener Pinak Ghosh, remained solid at the other end, but he was adjudged leg-before wicket off pacer Abu Jayed delivery for 51 off 135 balls and league leader Central continued losing wickets at regular intervals.
Mosaddek Hossain scored 57 but that was not enough to salvage his side as they conceded a lead over 200 runs.
Despite the chance of enforcing the follow on, East decided to bat again with two full days left and the side, which scored at a brisk pace of 4.78 runs per over in the first innings, are expected to set a big target with plenty of overs for their bowlers to wrap up the win.
EAST ZONE 425 in 88.5 overs (Mahmudul 94, Taskin 4/96) & 2/0 in one over (Rony 1*, Imrul 1*) lead CENTRAL ZONE 224 in 72.1 overs (Mosaddek 57, Taijul 6/92) by 203 runs