Fazle Mahmud of Barisal and Irfan Sukkur of Chittagong made centuries in the opening day of the second phase of National Cricket League on Saturday to put their teams into comfortable position.
Fazle Mahmud scored 103 runs to guide Barisal to 295-5 against Sylhet at Khulna while wicket-keeper Irfan Shakur made 102 to help Chittagong post 346-8 against Rajshahi at Rajshahi.In the other matches, Khulna made 227-5 in 59 overs against Dhaka Metropolis on the back of Mohammad Mithun’s unbeaten 82 runs before rain stopped further proceedings at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Dhaka were 265-5 at close against Rangpur at Bogra.
Khulna’s Sakib al Hasan and Rajshahi’s Mushfiqur Rahim had to skip the NCL to attend the reception of honorable prime minister at Gonobhaban.
Khulna v Metro
Mithun, who scored 87 in the opening game, looked to have started from where he left off on his way to an unbeaten 87 runs that helped Khulna post 227-5 in the rain curtailed affair.
Mithun resisted Metropolis from earning any advantage on the opening day after they were looking to put the pressure on the opponent by reducing them to 80-3 before the wicket-keeper set the tone.
Mithun hit 12 boundaries during his 126-ball stay and got good support from Tushar Imran, who made 59.
After the departure of Tushar, Metropolis got another scalp as Elias Sunny held a stunner at short mid-wicket off Sharifullah to dismiss Soumya Sarkar for 14.
Nurul Hasan joined with Mithun and they added 59 runs till stumps in the sixth wicket partnership.
Dhaka v Rangpur
Opener Rony Talukdar’s 59 seemed to regain his confident after his flop show during India tour with the Bangladesh ‘A’ team.
Roqibul Hasan gave him a good hand by scoring 52 to help Dhaka score 265-6 against Rangpur at Bogra. Left-arm spinner Suhrawardi Shuvo picked up 3-70 for Rangpur.
Barisal v Sylhet
Left-handed batsman Fazle Mahmud’s 102 runs from 120 balls with nine fours and three sixes gave second tier table toppers Barisal some respectability after opener Shariar Nafees (52) and Shahin Hossain (58) laid the platform with 116-run opening stand.
Chittagong v Rajshahi
Wicketkeeper Irfan Shakur scored a brilliant 102 while Mominul Haque and Mohammad Yasir scored half-century to help Chittagong post 346-8 against Rajshahi at the Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi.
Chittagong were struggling at 29-3 before Mominul Haque (90) held the ship with Yasir (91) and added a valuable 122 runs for the fourth wicket partnership.
Irfan added 90 runs for the fifth wicket with Yasir and put a 100-run partnership with Mohhamad Salahuddin, who was not out on 46.
Irfan struck 16 fours during his 167-ball innings.
Test opener Tamim Iqbal scored a duck and could stay for just two balls in the crease for Chittagong.
-With New Age input
