Traditional giants Abahani Ltd extended their losing streak at the Walton Dhaka Premier League (DPL) to six matches as Gazi Tank rode on New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram’s three wicket haul to snatch a 13 run at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium yesterday.
In other seventh round action, Afghani Ghulam Naib’s four wickets and Sri Lankan Dilshan Munaweera’s blistering 95 were the highlights in Sheikh Jamal’s eight wicket win over Prime Bank CC at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium, while at BKSP-3 ground Upul Tharanga’s 73 guided Mohammedan Sporting Club to a 42 run win against Victoria Sporting Club.
Abahani v Gazi Tank
In a 49-over match, Abahani skipper Shahriar Nafees’ decision to bowl first looked to be a good one after the Abahani bowlers put in a disciplined performance to bowl Gazi out for 189. Rakibul Hasan top scored with 42, another national discard Imrul Kayes weighed in with 39 and New Zealander Scott Styris made 32 for the batting side.
For Abahnai, Al-Amin took three wickets while Zander De Bruyn, Nabil Samad and Alauddin Babu picked up two each.
Abahani struggled in reply and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Sri Lankan Talina Kandambi top scored with 44 and towards the end, young Al-Amin made 37. With his dismissal, Abahani were unable to handle the pressure and finished with 176/8 to lose their sixth straight match.
Sheikh Jamal v Prime Bank
Sheikh Jamal skipper Tushar Imran won the toss and asked prime Bank to bat in a 48 over match. Afghani Gulbadin Naib bagged the first four wickets to leave Prime Bank tottering at 48/4.
English player Ravi Bopara helped his side recover with a 78-ball 74 (twelve fours) and Taibur Parvez’s unbeaten 48 took Gazi to 200 all out from 46.4 overs.
In addition to Naib’s four wickets, Sri Lankan Dilshan Munaweera, left arm Elias Sunny and Nahidul Islam all took two wickets for Jamal.
In reply, Dilshan Munaweera and national discard Junaid Siddique put on 130 for the first wicket to put Jamal firmly in command and they eventually reached the target comfortably for the loss of two wickets in just 29.3 overs.
Man-of-the-match Dilshan Munaweera made 95 runs from 57 balls (fifteen fours, three sixes) and Junaid Siddique scored 74 off 79 balls in the victory that put Sheikh Jamal at the top of the league table.
Mohammedan v Victoria
At the BKSP-3 ground, Mohammedan captain Mashrafe Mortaza chose to bat first after winning the toss. Mohammedan batted well to make 240 all out in 50 overs with Sri Lankan Upul Tharanga making 73 and Shamsur Rahman and Ejaz Ahmed both contributing 44 runs. Left arm spinner Monir Hossain claimed four wickets for Victoria.
After a bad start, Victoria’s middle order put up a fight with Soumya Sarkar making 57, Sri Lankan Milinda Siriwardana 43 and Rasel Al Mamun 32 but it proved to be in vain as the team were dismissed for 198 in 45.1 overs.
Left arm spinner Murad Khan bagged three wickets while national pacer Mashrafi Mortaza, Asela Gunaratne and Muktar Ali took two wickets apiece for Mohammedan, who claimed their fourth win in the league.
Brief Scores
Abahani v Gazi Tank
Gazi Tank 189/10 in 49 over
Rakibul Hasan 42, Imrul Kayes 39, Scott Styris 30
Al-Amin-2 27/3, Nabil Samad 28/2
Abahani 176/8 in 49 over
Talina Kandambi 44, Al-Amin-2 37, Jacob Oram 39/3
Gazi Tank won by 13 runs
Sheikh Jamal v prime Bank
Prime Bank 200/10 in 46.4 over
Ravi Bopara 74, Taibur parvez 48
Gulbadin Naib 31/4, Nahidul Islam 23/2
Sheikh Jamal 203/2 in 29.5 over
Dilshan Munaweera 95, Junaid Siddique 74
Sheikh Jamal won by eight wickets
Mohammedan v Victoria
Mohammedan 240/10 in 50 over
Upul Tharanga 73, Shamsur Rahman 44, Monir Hossain 50/4
Victoria 198/10 in 45.1 over
Soumya Sarker 57, Milinda Siriwardana 43, Murad Khan 26/3
Mohammedan won by 42 runs
