The third round of the Walton 15th National Cricket League began yesterday. At stumps on day one, Dhaka Metro was in a strong position against Barisal Division, riding on Asif Ahmed’s unbeaten ton. The other three games also had cricketer’s reach milestones but the more interesting was Dhaka Division, the table topper along with Rajshahi, getting all out with one of the lowest scores in an innings of the tournament, against Sylhet.
Dhaka Division vs Sylhet
Sylhet got off to a flying start in the game against Dhaka, bowling them out for 100 runs in the first innings after the side was sent in to bat at Khulna’s Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium.
The Dhaka innings had four ducks – two of them top order batsmen – Rony Talukder and Taiabur Parvez, while only three batsmen were able to reach double figures.
Left arm-spinner Nabil Samad led the Sylhet attack to jeopardize Dhaka batting. Nabil took four wickets while Imran Ali claimed three. Nadif Chowdhury’s 29 was the top score in Dhaka innings.
Later, Sylhet reached 185/2. Opening batsman Sayem Alam hammered an unbeaten 111 while skipper Alok Kapali scored 69 not out, while Shahadar Hossain and Mohammed Sharif claimed one wicket each.
Barisal v Dhaka Metro
Riding on Asif Ahmed’s unbeaten 171, Dhaka Metro were in a strong position at stumps on day one against Barisal at Fatullah’s Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium.
Metro won the toss and went to bat first. The side lost both openers – Saykat Ali and Elias Sunny for 1 and 9 respectively - but Asif along Marshall Ayub steadied the boat posting 190 runs for the third wicket. Marshal eventually fell for 79 but Asif kept on the sail. At stumps the side scored 295 for three in 90 overs. Mehrab Hossain Jr was not out with 31 runs. Kamrul Islam, Nuruzzaman and Fazle Rabbi took a wicket each for Barisal.
Khulna v Chittagong
The first day at Bogra’s Shaheed Chandu Stadium ended with Khulna posting 265.
Chittagong won the toss and invited Khulna to bat and though the latter had a jerky ride losing couple of the top orders early, decent batting by the lineup saw the side a decent total. Nahidul Islam’s 64 runs was the highest in the innings followed by the 59 from Nizamuddin Ripon.
Mahbubul Karin took five wickets for Chittagong while Mehdi Hassan Rana bagged two.
Rangpur v Rajshahi
Defending champions Rajshahi scored 260/9 against Rangpur at Rangpur’s Cricket Garden.
Rajshahi won the toss and opted to bat first. Nine of the eleven batters had scored double figures but could not go on to a big score. Coming in at number nine, Muktar Ali top scored with 50 not out.
Brief Score (Day One, Round Three):
Sylhet vs Dhaka Div
Dhaka (1st innings): 100 all out in 39.4 overs
(Nadif 29, Nabil 4/30, Imran 3/26)
Sylhet (1st innings): 185/2 in 48 overs
(Sayem 111*, Kapali 63*, Shahadat 1/28)
Sylhet lead by 85 runs
Chittagong v Khulna
Khulna (1st innings): 265 all out in 89.5 overs
(Nahidul 64, Ripon 59, Moniruzzaman 5/30)
Rangpur v Rajshahi
Rajshahi (1st innings): 260/9 in 90 overs
(Muktar 50*, Tanvir 3/46, Shuvashish 2/30)
Barisal v Dhaka Metro
Metro (1st innings): 295/3 in 90 overs
(Asif 171*, Marshall 79, Rabbi 1/25)