Sylhet veterans Alok Kapali and Rajin Saleh led from the front to take their side to the driving seat against Chittagong following the second day of the sixth round of the 16th National Cricket League yesterday.
While Rajin bagged a hundred, skipper Kapali struck a sensational unbeaten double century before they declared their first innings with a massive total on the board.
Meanwhile in the game between Dhaka Metro and Khulna, all eyes were on national paceman Al Amin Hossain. Khulna pacer Al Amin featured in his first game ever since being ousted from the Bangladesh World Cup squad due to disciplinary reasons.
Chittagong v Sylhet, Fatullah
Riding on Kapali’s unbeaten 211 and Rajin’s 111, Sylhet continued to dominate Chittagong. Sylhet declared their first innings at 507 for eight having started the day on 214.
Kapali displayed his brilliance, scoring 211 off 346 balls. His inning included 18 boundaries and three sixes.
Kapali was involved in three valuable partnerships. First, the elegant right-hander added 191 runs alongside Rajin for the fourth wicket. After that, Kapali put on 102 runs alongside Anwar Akbar (43) for the fifth wicket. Kapali also added 75 runs alongside Nazmul Milon for the sixth wicket.
The port-city outfit later faced 19 overs and scored 45 for the loss of one wicket.
Rangpur v Dhaka, SBNS
Resuming on 294/6, Dhaka stretched their first innings tally to 335 allout with top-order batsman Rakibul Hasan scoring the highest 130.
Later, Rangpur put up a strong reply, scoring 231/5 in 72 overs. Stumper-batsman Dhiman Ghosh top scored with 67. Ariful Haque chipped in with an undefeated half-century.
Dhaka Metro v Khulna, BKSP 3
Khulna, starting the day on 299/5, ended their innings on 416 as seamer-allrounder Ziaur Rahman blasted 79.
In reply, Shamsur Rahman and opener Saikat Ali aided Dhaka Metro’s chase by giving their side a decent start. Dhaka Metro scored 186/3 in 65 overs before the second day’s play came to an end.
Rajshahi v Barisal, BKSP 2
Barisal right-arm off-spinner Sohag Gazi grabbed a five-wicket haul to allow his side to restrict Rajshahi to 247 allout.
By the end of the day, Barisal posted 59/2, a lead of 47 runs.