[Sohel]

Cricket
Ispahani Mirzapore Tea 9th National Cricket League
Kapali hits slick 157
Sports Reporter

Alok Kapali returned to his belligerent best by making a scintillating unbeaten 157 as wretched Sylhet gained the upper hand on the first day against Barisal in the fourth round game of the 9th National Cricket League at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium yesterday.

The 23-year-old in-and-out national batsman executed his natural strokeplay during his first century of the season to put an end to his team's poor showing in the competition as Sylhet finished the day strongly on 307-4.

Another weak batting act was in sight when the scoreboard read 60-3 after being sent into bat, but the talented Kapali joined captain Rajin Saleh to defy Barisal's impressive pace trio of Talha Jubair, Sajidul Islam and Arafat Salahuddin.

The two Test batsmen shared a massive 223-run fourth wicket stand before Barisal's successful bowler Arafat, who took all four wickets, broke the partnership by removing Saleh, caught by Talha.

Rajin slammed his third half-century with a 166-ball 82 that contained ten fours and one six but it was Kapali, the real enigma, who made it his day with some stylish strokes.

Recovering from early shakiness, Kapali found gaps on the off-side by playing the whole array of shots off both front and back foot. His 211-ball essay featured 25 boundaries, mostly coming from square cuts and drives, and two sixes.

Kapali brought out the late-cut to reach his half-century off Arafat in 56 balls and reached the three-digit, third in the competition after Khulna's Shakib Al Hasan and Imrul Kayes, in fantastic style by clobbering two successive sixes, over long-on and long-off, against leg-spinner Rokibul Hasan. He reached his ton off 133 balls.

"Unfortunately we were at the receiving end. Otherwise it is always a pleasure to watch Kapali bat. Initially he was a bit shy but was quick to come up with his best to show his stylish batting on a very lively wicket,” was the appreciation from Barisal captain Shahriar Nafees.

“The interesting part was that he hardly played the pull shot during his chanceless knock," added Nafees.

Kapali had very poor record in the last three rounds with only a single half-century to his credit which was the main reason behind his side's ordinary performance.

"Actually I have always enjoyed batting on this sort of wicket because here, I can play my natural shots. I am really happy because I scored against a good pace attack, especially Arafat, who got movement from the surface," said a delighted Kapali.

He was however looking forward to make his maiden first-class double hundred. "I'm totally focussing on a double century because it help me lot to get back my confidence after my poor showing in World Twenty20 Championship in South Africa," said Kapali, who has got the talent but has been struggling to cement the place in the national side due to inconsistency.

BRIEF SCORES

SYLHET: First innings 307-4 in 90 overs (Rahman 33, Imtiaz 16, Mithun 9, Rajin 82, Kapali 157 not out, Mabud 10 not out; Arafat 4-94).

DS

And he's only 23, a good 4 years away from reaching his peak range from 27-32 ...