Courtesy of playing consistent cricket throughout the tournament, Dhaka Division clinched the 15th Walton National Cricket League title by beating Khulna Division by five wickets on the final day of the last round of the tournament at the Sheikh Kamal International stadium in Cox’s Bazar yesterday while man of the match Sabbir Rahman and Farhad Reza’s brilliant batting saw Rajshahi winning by four wickets over Dhaka Metro and subsequently become the runner up of the first class tournament this season.
Dhaka Division actually had one hand on the title after a long seven year wait even before the last day of the match began as they needed only 128 runs with nine wickets in hand. Riding on opener Rony Talukder’s 90 runs, Dhaka comfortably reached the target of 224 with five wickets in hand. Wicket-keeper batsman Nurul Hasan who smashed a century in the first innings was adjudged the man of the match.
At the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong, Dhaka Metro bowlers kept the match alive by taking six wickets on the third day against Rajshahi. But the two overnight batsmen Sabbir (85) and Farhad (80) added a brilliant 155 runs for the seventh wicket as both of them remained unbeaten to chase down the target of 272 losing six wickets.
Meanwhile, Rangpur Division beat Barisal Division by an innings and 25 runs at the Khan Shaheb Osmal Ali Outer Stadium where Barisal was bundled out for 229 runs after scoring 289 in their first innings. The two overnight batsmen Salman Hossain and Nuruzzaman resumed the final day on 133/2 but folded to 229/9 as Fazle Rabbi did not bat after sustaining injury. Left arm spinner Suhrawardi Shuvo picked up 3 wickets for Rangpur while Sajedul, Nasir and Tanveer chipped in with 2 wickets each.
Chittagong finished the tournament with a big win of 258 runs against Sylhet Division at the BKSP-3 ground. Trailing by 374 runs, Sylhet resumed their innings on the fourth day with nine wickets in hand but eventually were bowled out for just 180 runs as left arm spinner Mohammad Younus bagged five wickets for only 47 runs from 22.4 over while off spinner Ali Akbar claimed three wickets for Chittagong. Mominul Haque was adjudged the man of the match after the diminutive southpaw smashed 168 runs in Chittagong’s second innings.
NCL Roll of honor
Season Champion Runners up
1999-2000 Chittagong Division Sylhet Division
2000-2001 Bangladesh Biman Chittagong Division
2001-2002 Dhaka Division Rajshahi Division
2002-2003 Khulna Division Dhaka Division
2003-2004 Dhaka Division Sylhet Division
2004-2005 Dhaka Division Rajshahi Division
2005-2006 Rajshahi Division Chittagong Division
2006-2007 Dhaka Division Rajshahi Division
2007-2008 Khulna Division Rajshahi Division
2008-2009 Rajshahi Division Barisal Division
2009-2010 Rajshahi Division Chittagong Division
2010-2011 Rajshahi Division Dhaka Division
2011-2012 Rajshahi Division Khulna Division
2012-2013 Khulna Division Dhaka Division
2013-2014 Dhaka Division Rajshahi Division