Legends of Rupganj got a crucial victory in the battle of table toppers in the ongoing Dhaka Premier League as they beat Abahani Limited by six wickets at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla national cricket stadium on Sunday.
Before the match Abahani were leading the table by the virtue of better run rate but they lost the position due to a poor show as they were bundled out for 122 before Rupganj reaching the target by scoring 125/4 in 26.5 overs ascending at the zenith of points table.
Rupganj have now 18 points from 10 games with nine victories while Abahani are now descended to the second spot with 16 points from same number of games.
Rupganj won the crucial toss early in the morning and elected to field first. Abahani made the worst possible start as in-form opener Jahurul Islam was bowled out by Subhasish Roy in the very first ball of the innings.
The paceman continued the wreckage as the also got rid of another opener Soumya Sarkar (14 off 22) and one-down Nazmul Islam Shanto (six off nine balls) to reduce Abahani to 21/3.
Legends of Rupganj won by 6 wickets against Abahani Limited
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Defending champions’ woe continued as they lost two more wickets quickly with Sabbir Rahman dismissed for a duck and Priyank Kirit out for one and half of their side was back in pavilion with only 29 runs on the board.
Mohammad Mithun and captain Mosaddek Hossain made some sort of resurrection as they added 43 runs in the sixth wicket stand but just when things started to look promising for Abahani, Mithun lost his wicket through a soft dismissal after making 38 off 55 balls with six boundaries.
Three experienced all-rounders Mohammad Saifuddin (1), Mehedi Hasan Miraz (5) and Mashrafe bin Mortaza (15) also failed to support Mosaddek, who stranded with an unbeaten 40 in one side, and Abahani were capitulated in a below par score in 39.1 overs.
Subhashish took three wickets conceding 37 runs. Mohammad Shahid took two wickets conceding just 11 runs while Nabil Samad also bagged two scalps.
In reply, Rupganj started impressively as Mehedi Maruf and Mohammad Naim formed a 62-run opening partnership in 10 overs.
Naim got out for 22 but Maruf, who made 59, added another 45 with Mominul Haque (17) to almost take his side to the coast.
Subhashish was adjudged man of the match for his brilliant opening spell of bowling.
Abahani will face Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in the last match of group stage while Rupganj will face Uttara Sporting Club in their last encounter before the super six.
Scorecard
Abahani Limited INNINGS R B
Jahurul b Subashis 0 1
Soumya lbw b Subashis 14 22
Shanto c Jaker b Subashis 6 9
Panchal c Jaker b Shahid 1 21
Mithun c Muktar b Nabil 38 55
Sabbir b Shahid 0 8
Mosaddek not out 40 88
Saifuddin b Nabil Samad 1 6
Miraz c Naim b Muktar 5 9
Mashrafe c Shahid b Dhawan 15 10
Nazmul run out (Dhawan) 1 6
Extras (w 1) 1
TOTAL (All out, 39.1 Overs) 122
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Jahurul, 0.1 ov), 2-8 (Shanto, 2.4 ov), 3-21 (Soumya, 8.3 ov), 4-21 (Panchal, 9.2 ov), 5-29 (Sabbir, 11.4 ov), 6-72 (Mithun, 25.6 ov), 7-78 (Saifuddin, 27.4 ov), 8-88 (Miraz, 30.6 ov), 9-113 (Mashrafe, 35.5 ov), 10-122 (Nazmul, 39.1 ov)
BOWLING
Subashis Roy 8-0-37-3, Mohammad Shahid 8-4-11-2, R Dhawan 6.1-0-17-1, Nabil Samad 10-4-15-2, Muktar Ali 7-0-42-1
Legends of Rupganj INNINGS R B
Maruf b Nazmul 59 85
Naim c sub (Jahid) b Saifuddin 22 20
Mominul run out (Mosaddek) 17 35
Jaker b Sabbir 2 3
Naeem not out 3 4
Nafees not out 12 14
Extras (w 10) 10
TOTAL (4 Wickets, 26.5 Overs) 125
Fall of wickets: 1-62 (Naim, 10.4 ov), 2-107 (Mominul, 22.5 ov), 3-109 (Mehedi, 23.3 ov), 4-111 (Jaker, 24.1 ov)
BOWLING
Mashrafe Mortaza 3-0-15-0, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 4-1-20-0, Nazmul Islam 4-0-33-1, Mohammad Saifuddin 6-0-16-1, Soumya Sarkar 4-0-18-0, Mosaddek Hossain 4-0-10-0, Sabbir Rahman 1.5-0-13-1
Rupganj won by 6 wickets
MoM: Subashis Roy (Rupganj)
