University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) has made it to the finals of the Walton Refrigerator University Challenge Cup 2014. They registered a convincing nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) in the first semifinal of the tournament at BKSP yesterday.
ULAB will face American International University Bangladesh (AIUB) in the final today at the same venue. AIUB emerged as the other finalist after defeating Rajshahi University by nine wickets.
BAU won the toss and opted to bat first but could only manage 89 runs losing all of their wickets due to a top-order failure. Utsho’s 30-ball 20 was the highest in the BAU innings. Ratul and Shuvrato scored 18 runs each.
Morsalin Bin Mortaja scalped four wickets for ULAB and was later adjudged player of the match. Anjam Ahmed and Avishek Mitra took two wickets each.
In reply, ULAB chased down the target in 7.5 overs with nine wickets to spare. Skipper Hasanuzzaman’s 26-ball 49 upfront propelled the chase. He hammered six fours and two sixes and added 83 runs with Avishek Mitra for the opening stand.
Avishek was unbeaten on 30 off 20 balls. His innings included three boundaries and a six. Oni picked up the only wicket for BAU.
In the other semifinal, Rajshahi batted first and garnered only 83 runs. Wicketkeeper-batsman Himel scored the highest, 16. Towfiqul Haq grabbed four wickets for AIUB while Tanvir Haider took two.
Chasing the target, AIUB reached the target in 9.2 overs despite an early hiccup, that of opening batsman Mehrab Hossain Jr who departed in the third ball of the innings.
Anamul Haque guided the chase with authority scoring an unbeaten 37-ball 70. He hammered eight boundaries and five sixes. Tanvir was unbeaten at the other end on 10 runs.