After the domination of the bowlers on the first day batsmen restored the parity on the second day of all four fourth-round matches of the National Cricket League in different venues on Sunday.
Although several half-centuries were scored, Khulna’s Mehedi Hasan was the only batsman to reach three-figure mark to help his get stronghold over Dhaka at Fatullah.Khulna finished the day on 205-4 in their second innings to take a lead of 168 runs after their bowlers restricted Dhaka to 154 following Khulna’s first innings total of 117.
In the other Tier-1 match at Khulna, defending champions Rangpur were just one run away from Dhaka Metropolis as they finished the day on 241-6 in reply to 242 runs.
At Bogra, Barisal, who made just 155 runs in the first innings, came back strongly as they dismissed Sylhet for 172 before finishing the day on 151-3 with a lead of 134 runs.
Chittagong complied only 195 runs from 90 overs but lost only four wickets throughout the day to finish on 238-4 and achieve a lead of 30 against Rajshahi at home.
Dhaka v Khulna
Resuming on 77-3, Dhaka could not press on and were bundled out for just 154 runs in the face of some hostile bowling from Khulna pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who claimed 4-46.
Skipper Abdur Razzak gave him adequate support with 3-60.
Joyruz Sheikh, who resumed on 49, scored 65, the only 20-plus score in the innings.
In reply, Mehedi Hasan’s run–a-ball 104-run innings put Khulna on a driving seat.
Mehedi added 148 runs in the second wicket with Anamul Haque, who remained unbeaten on 61 at stumps.
Rangpur v Dhaka Metropolis
None of the Rangpur players could make a half-century but their combined efforts took them to 241-6 at stumps after Dhaka Metropolis, who resumed on 217-7, were folded for 242.
Tanveer Haider, who grabbed four wickets in Metro innings, remained not out on 42, the highest innings for Rangpur so far.
Barisal v Sylhet
Resumed on 45-1, Sylhet were looking for a big lead while they were replying Barisal’s 155 but they got a lead of just 17 runs before being all-out for 172 runs.
Ruman Ahmed, the only batsman to score a fifty for Sylhet, made 69 runs as Golam Kabir and Sohag Gazi picked up three wickets apiece giving away 41 and 24 runs respectively for Barisal.
Barisal, in reply, lost two wickets for just 16 runs but Shahriar Nafees and Salman Hossain added 127 runs in the third wicket to bring the side back into the contest.
Nafees scored 67 and Salman was not out on 72.
Khaled Ahmed got all three wickets for Sylhet.
Chittagong vs Rajshahi
Opener Tamim Iqbal was dismissed for 62 and Tasamul Haque and Irfan Sukkur continued the batting charge for Chittagong to remain unbeaten on 66 and 38 runs respectively.
Left-arm spinner Sanzamul Islam (4-59) got all four wickets for Rajshahi.
-With New Age input
