Premier Division on
Easy wins for Abahani, Mohammedan & Surjo Torun
The Premier Division Cricket League started yesterday with defending champions Abahani, title-contenders Mohammedan and dark-horse Surjo Torun recording convincing victories on the opening day.
Mohammedan staged a comfortable victory against Victoria at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium, thanks to an all-round performance by Marshal Ayub. Mohammedan opted to field first and soon reduced the opponents to 20 for three within the first five overs.
Victoria recovered somewhat from that position, thanks to a few mediocre contributions from their middle-order batsmen. Arafat Salahuddin top-scored for Victoria with 49. Ayub got rid of the last three wickets in quick time to skittle Victoria for 191 in 47 overs. His spin partner Nabil Samad also chipped in with three important wickets.
Ayub then played out an unbeaten knock of 71, partnering with Aftab Ahmed who scored 53, to see his side home, scripting a five-wicket win with 8.5 overs to spare.
Mohammedan's bitter rivals and defending champions Abahani who come in to the league on the back of the T20 triumph, hardly had to break a sweat as they swept past Kalabagan by eigth wickets at BKSP.
Winning the toss, Abahani sent Kalabagan in to bat and got them out for just 110 in 39.5 overs. Their two fast bowlers, Shubhashis Roy and Rabiul Islam utilised the conditions to good effect, bagging four wickets each, while Zubaer Ahmed played a lone hand for the hapless Kalabagan with his knock of 57 in 99 deliveries.
Abahani batters romped past the meagre total in 20.5 overs, losing only two wickets in the process. Opener Rony Talukder stayed unbeaten on 66 to ensure the comfortable victory.
In the other match of the day, Surjo Torun recorded a five-wicket win over newcomers Khelaghar Samaj Kalyan Samity at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra. Khelaghar, batting first, managed to score a modest total of 162 runs in their allotted 50 overs against a very disciplined Surjo Torun attack. Mahbubul was the star with the ball as he took four wickets for 33.
Chasing this small target, Surjo Torun had a few hiccups, but in the end their experienced captain Habibul Bashar guided them home with a sensible knock of 56 not out.
Earlier in the morning, former Bangladesh opener and ex-national selector Asaduzzaman Misha inaugurated the league at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium. Bangladesh Cricket Board's senior vice-president Mahbubul Anam, acting CEO Nizam Uddin Chowdhury, Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis chairman GS Hassan Chowdhury and other CCDM officials were also present
after a good t20 series, aftab begins with fifty! Aftab is back, too! add his bowling success in t20.
he is the man Siddons is waiting for... come on AFTAAAAAAB!!!!!
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Bangladesh's Win (agt any team) = 100% Joy
India's Loss (agt any team) = 100% Joy
So, only opportunity for me to double my joy is when Bangladesh BEATs India!!!
I really hope and pray these time some of guys(whether it is young star or ex icl er) really perform well and give run our top orders for money before upcoming series.From now on wards places in the Bangladesh team should not be free ride or basis of early reputation or world class talent but cannot implement.I am really waiting for those days if you cannot perform 2/3 matches or play reckless or irresponsible shot during crucial time of match you will be sidelined in the next game.
Guys.. watch out for Emon Ahmed and Shubhasish Roy - and if you go to the stadium for games, do some scouting for us (pace, height, line-length, control, etc)
Despite not having played any official ODIs in over almost two years, I am disappointed at Gazi Tank losing (I'm assuming SN, AK and Nazim didn't perform with the bat). Looking forward to the scoreboard to see what happened.
We desperately need those guys to shine otherwise the current national team will not feel the pressure to perform.
Saturday, October 31, 2009 Sports Reporter
Uttam Sarker scored the first century of the season to guide Cricket Coaching School (CCS) to a comfortable 9-wicket victory over Partex Sporting Club in their opening match of the Premier Division Cricket League at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium yesterday. In a surprising result of the day, title-contenders Gazi Tank went down to Old DOHS by 44 runs at BKSP, while Biman got their mission off to a flyer with a 7-wicket victory over BKSP at Fatullah.
The stylish opener Uttam Sarker played a very commanding knock of unbeaten 109 from 119 deliveries to topple the small target of 173 in 35 overs for the loss of a single wicket. One-down batsman Atiqur Rahman scored 50 and remained not out to give his skipper good company in scripting this comfortable victory. Earlier, Partex batsmen struggled against the disciplined bowling of CCS bowlers, and limped to 169 for 8 in their allotted fifty overs. There was no notable contribution in Partex innings and they were also not helped by fact that their opener Mehrab Hossain got injured when batting on 28 and couldn't make a return.
A star-studded Gazi Tank lost to Old DOHS in a low scoring affair at BKSP. Despite restricting Old DOHS to a modest total of 171 for 7 in 50 overs, Gazi Tank crippled to 127 runs in 44.4 overs losing all their wickets, causing the first shock result of the season. Old DOHS built their innings on a fine opening stand of 73 between Wasim Nayeem (40) and Nasiruddin Faruk (38). Gazi's fast bowler Forhad Hossain took four quick wickets while left-arm spinner Sohrawardi Shuvo took two wickets to thwart the runs. Saif Mahmud, lower down the order, scored a quick-fire 31 to give his side a competitive total. Saif later took three early wickets with his fast bowling to bring down Gazi's powerful batting lineup to their knees. Left-hander Shahriar Nafees got 26 off 26 deliveries while Nazimuddin got 19. Gazi's Indian all-rounder Hemang Badani scored a duck as he got out to Pakistani spinner Waseem Nayeem. Gazi all-rounders Forhad Hossain scored 24 while Sohrawardi Shuvo scored 31 runs in the middle order to give their side hope, but as soon as they were dismissed, Gazi's innings fell apart and eventually crumbled to 127 within 45 overs.
In the other match of the day at Fatullah, Biman scored a convincing seven-wicket win over BKSP. Batting first, BKSP scored 188 losing nine wickets in their fifty overs, with highest 69 coming from the bat of opener Ashiqul Alam and 48 coming from middle-order batsman Jasimuddin. The 189-run target never looked too much as Biman opener Mehrab Hossain Jr. played an enthralling knock of 88 not out from 134 balls, while his opening partner Zahurul Islam got 30. Biman's Sri Lankan recruit Jehan Mubarak (47*) then provided support to Mehrab to overtake the target in 45.2 overs and 7 wickets in hand.