Nazmus Sadat played a brilliant unbeaten innings of 82 runs to help Brothers Union post an easy six-wicket victory over holders Victoria Sporting Club in the Dhaka Premier League on Friday.
Brothers, who picked up their second victory, were joined in the winners’ circle by Gazi Tank Cricketers and Prime Bank Cricket Club after contrasting victories in the third round of matches.
Gazi Tanks overcame a strong challenge from Sri Lankan duo Jehan Mubarak and Kapugedara Chamara to beat Kalabagan KC by eight runs at Fatullah, while Prime Bank rode Zimbabwean Brendan Taylor’s 86 to thump Cricket Coaching School by 152 runs.
Brothers Union v Victoria SC
Sent in to bat first, Victoria had a nightmarish start, with four wickets falling for 11 runs after the first proper cricket match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium since February was delayed by 15 minutes due to an under-prepared outfield.
Nasir Hossain’s 35 provided the first resistance, before Juybaer Ahmed’s 50 and a late blitz by tail-enders Mohammad Sharif (33), Sajedul Islam (27) and Enamul Haque (29) took Victoria to 213/9 after 50 overs and gave its innings some respectability.
Brothers got off to a flying start when Tamim Iqbal swooped on Sharif to hit him for two fours and a six in just the second over of the innings before the bowler got his revenge on the national opener, bowling him with a yorker for 19 in the same over.
Fellow opener Imtiaz Hossain (22) and Nafees Iqbal (21) also got out just as they looked to have settled in the middle.
However, their departure caused little damage to Brothers’ cause as Sadat, a re-born left-handed batsman, joined Sri Lankan captain Mathews to wipe out any chance Victoria had.
Man of the match Sadat (82), who played for Bangladesh in their very first Twenty20 International before going into the wilderness, surprisingly dominated their unbroken 148-run fifth-wicket stand with some clean shots, finishing with 10 fours and two sixes in his 97-ball innings.
‘I am really feeling good,’ a jubilant Sadat told reporters after the match. ‘I have lost some crucial years of my career to injury and now I want to come back. I just need some help from the BCB.’
All-rounder Mathews, who earlier claimed two wickets, was aggressive at times and struck four sixes, but he had to be content with an unbeaten 58 runs as his team cruised to 214/4 in the 44th over.
Gazi Tanks v Kalabagan
British passport-holding Pakistani cricketer Tariq Usman hit 50, while skipper and man of the match Mahmudullah added an identical score to take Gazi Tanks to 244-8 after opting to bat first at Fatullah.
Rubel Hossain, who claimed 11 wickets in the first two matches, finally found life hard as Kalabagan threatened to overhaul Gazi Tanks’ total despite a quiet start from their openers.
After three wickets fell for 107 runs, Mubarak and Kapugadara paired to score 65 and 60 runs respectively, nearly taking Kalabagan home. However, Rubel was the hero again as he dismissed both Sri Lankan batsmen. The remaining batsmen simply could not cope up with the pressure, with Kalabagan losing their last five wickets for 16 runs to finish 236 all out and concede a narrow defeat.
Prime Bank v Cricket Coaching School
At the much criticised BKSP-3 venue, CCS were never a match for Prime Bank, who put 249-8 on the board thanks to a sublime innings from man of the match Brendan Taylor, who faced just 78 balls and smashed four sixes and seven fours for his 86.
CCS wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan had five dismissals to his name, but it was all in vain after his side’s poor display with the bat, which saw them bowled out for 97 runs in a massive 152-run defeat.
This was the second time the team batting second was bowled out for such a poor total at the newly unveiled BKSP-3 venue. Gazi Tanks were dismissed for 107 runs in the second innings against Brothers in the very first match at this ground on September 15.
BRIEF SCORES
Brothers Union v Victoria SC
Victoria SC 213-9 in 50 overs (J Ahmed 50, N Hossain 35, M Sharif 33, E Haque 29 not out, S Islam 27; I Hossain 2-7, A Mathews 2-29, A Mahmood 2-32) v Brothers Union 214-4 in 43.5 overs (N Sadat 82 not out, A Mathews 56 not out, I Hossain 22; S Weerakoon 2-35).
Result: Brothers Union won by 6 wickets.
Man of the match: N Sadat (BU)
***
Gazi Tank Cricketers v Kalabagan KC
Gazi Tank 244-8 in 50 overs (Mahmudullah 50, T Usman 50, R Hasan 39, S Styris 34, H Islam 23; N Islam 3-44, J Mubarak 2-53) v Kalabagan 236 in 49.3 overs (J Mubarak 65, K Chamara 60, F Hossain 36; Mahmudullah 2-13, A Sunny 2-45, R Hossain 2-51).
Result: Gazi Tank Cricketers won by 8 runs.
Man of the match: Mahmudullah (GTC)
****
Prime Bank CC v Cricket Coaching School
Prime Bank 249-8 in 50 overs (B Taylor 86, B Rajapaksa 25, J Mendis 22, T Parvez 22 not out; B Halder 3-43, S Parbatani 2-38, I Mustakim 2-42) v CCS 97 in 36.3 overs (A Ahmed 27, A Majumdar 24; J Mendis 4-31, M Hasan 2-1, Enamul Haq Jr 2-14).
Result: Prime Bank CC won by 152 runs.
Man of the match: B Taylor (PBCC).
-With New Age input
