Najmul Hossain Shanto made a serious claim for retaining his Test spot, hitting his maiden first-class double century for Central Zone against South Zone on day three of round three of the Bangladesh Cricket League on Sunday.
On the same day when Bangladesh’s squad for the forthcoming Zimbabwe Test match was announced, Central made 385/8 in their second innings before they declared with Shanto not out on 253.
Chasing a huge 507-run target, South, who declared on 121/4 in the first innings, reached 159/4 before the umpires called a halt to the day’s play. South now need 348 more runs on the final day for victory and to seal a berth in the final of the four-team tournament.
In the other match, East Zone’s Yasir Ali scored 165 against North Zone to take his side to a first innings total of 331. North reached 145/5 in their second innings at stumps, amounting to a lead of 86 runs.
Central v South
Central resumed batting on the day with the score on 209/6. Shanto and Zabid Hossain were at the crease on 122 and 0, respectively.
The pair put up a solid partnership, with Shanto doing the bulk of the scoring while Zabid gave him support. When Zabid (36 off 74 balls) was finally dismissed lbw by Mahedi Hasan, Central had got past the 300 run mark.
Subsequently, Shanto, who faced 310 balls, remained at the crease and monopolized the strike in order to protect the tail-enders.
An unusual declaration in the @BCBtigers Bangladesh Cricket League has once again raised questions about the rules of the first-class tournament, overshadowing brilliant centuries from young talents Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Yasir Ali Saturday.https://t.co/4C3YH39ZxJ#BCBTIGERS
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) February 15, 2020
South suffered an early setback in their second innings when opener Shahriar Nafees was dismissed by left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman after scoring just five runs. However, other opener Anamul Haque steadied the ship, going on to score 83 off 119.
Fazle Mahmud had replaced Nafees at the crease and scored a steady 25 off 105 before being dismissed caught and bowled by Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Shamsur Rahman then came to the middle and almost put South in a position of strength near the close of play.
However, Anamul and Irfan Sukkur (0 off 5 balls) lost their wickets in quick succession to give Central the advantage at stumps.
East v North
East began the day with the score on 261/7, with Yasir Ali and Nayeem Hasan at the crease on 134 and 6, respectively.
Yasir managed to reach165 before being the first batsman to be dismissed on the day, with East on 321. Nayeem scored 31 before he too was dismissed just two overs later. Both wickets were taken by left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam.
Sunzamul took a total seven wickets in the innings, while off-spinner Sanjit Saha took the other three.
A number of the North batsmen got starts in their second innings, but failed to go on to big scores. Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahidul Islam Ankon were at the crease at stumps, on 23 and 22, respectively.
Nayeem Hasan took two wickets for East, while Saqlain Sajib and Hasan Mahmud bagged one each.