Walton Central Zone opener Shamsur Rahman’s unbeaten double hundred and three individual tons in the game between Prime Bank South Zone and the BCB North Zone kept the day interesting in the Bangladesh Cricket League yesterday. Shamsur’s 229 not out is his second double century in the franchise based first-class cricket tournament.
Walton Central Zone v Islami Bank East Zone
Shamsur’s unbeaten 229 runs provided defending champions Central Zone with a 126-run lead in the first innings against East Zone at BKSP 2. At the end of the second day, Central Zone had scored 429 runs with four 4 wickets to spare.
Losing opening batsman Shahriar Nafees (23) and Marshal Ayub (4) in quick succession was a shocker for the Central Zone. The side further the lost wickets of Mehrab Hossain Jr (12), skipper Mahlmudullah (1) and Rakibul Hasan (22) in a span of 12 overs and looked to be in trouble. However Shamsur along with wicket-keeper batsman Nurul Hasan took charge and put on 155-runs for the sixth wicket to steer the defending champions to a safe position.
Nurul, after a brilliant effort, fell six runs short of a hundred. He scored 94 runs from 81 balls with 16 fours.
However Shamsur continued on to stumps. The right handed batsman faced only 86 balls to reach his first hundred while the second came in 147 balls. The 25-year old smashed 24 fours and 7 sixes and at stumps, had posted 89-runs for the seventh wicket with Elias Sunny. Sunny was unbeaten on 32 at the end of day’s play.
Alauddin Babu picked two wickets for East Zone while Mashrafe bin Mortaza, Yasin Arafat, Enamul Haque Jr and Alok Kapali each took one.
Earlier in the morning, Islami Bank East Zone started the day on 301 for nine and could add only two runs to the tally before losing their last wicket.
BCB North Zone v Prime Bank South Zone
Three individual hundreds have turned the game between the North and the South Zone at BKSP 3 interesting.
The second day of the game resumed with BCB North Zone batsman Forhad Reza unbeaten on 76 and the side at 331/8. All-rounder Reza went onto lengthen the innings and scroed 153 runs off as many balls. He also anchored two partnerships – 54 runs with Taijul Islam for the ninth wicket and another 57 runs for the tenth wicket with Saqlain Sajib. Reza was the last batsmen to be dismissed and his innings, which had 22 boundaries and six sixes, saw North Zone post 421 runs in the first innings.
In reply, Prime Bank South Zone failed to get a strong start, losing both the openers – Anamul Haque (3) and Soumya Sarkar (42) - with only 69 runs on the board. However the 220 runs third wicket stand between Imrul Kayes and Mithun Ali aided the side to recover.
Four overs before stumps, Mithun was dismissedfor 107. His 135-ball innings included 13 fours and four sixes. Imrul, who is in the running to get his spot back in the national dressing room, was unbeaten at stumps with 127. He faced 214 balls and struck 15 fours and five sixes. At the end of the day, the side trailed by 132 runs with seven wickets in hand.
Brief Score (Day Two):
Walton Central v Islami Bank East
Islami East (1st innings): 303 all out in 91.4 overs
(Liton 79, Nazim 57, Mahmudullah 4/67, Marshal 2/32)
Walton Central (1st innings): 429/6 in 85 overs
(Shamsur 229*, Nurul 94, Alauddin 2/84)
Walton Central Zone lead by 126 runs
BCB North v Prime Bank South
BCB North (1st innings): 421 all out in 107.5 overs
(Farhad Reza 153, Nasir 99, Forhad Hossain 76, Razzak 3/105)
Prime Bank South (1st innings): 289/3 in 70 overs
(Imrul 127*, Mithun 107, Farhad 1/51, Taijul 1/56)
Prime Bank South Zone trail by 132 runs