Old DOHS and Victoria Sporting Club are heading towards a June 8 showdown for the Dhaka Premier League title after they won their respective matches yesterday. Both have two Super League games in hand and although DOHS are leading the table on 22 points, their game against challengers Victoria on the last day of the league, by all measures, will decide the winners, but none can afford to drop points in the next round of matches.
At the BKSP in Savar, Old DOHS demolished Abahani in a 74-run victory thanks mainly to Uday Kaul’s century, while Victoria’s six-wicket win over Gazi Tank Cricketers went into the last over in a shortened game at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra.
Away at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium, Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club beat Mohammedan Sporting Club by four wickets through the Duckworth-Lewis method.
OLD DOHS-ABAHANI
In the only uninterrupted game of the day, DOHS began poorly after being put into bat. But the left-handed Kaul took charge from the fourth over as they made their way to 294-5 in 50 overs. Abahani, minus skipper Mahmudullah Riyad who was ill, never threatened the target and were bowled out for 220 runs in 49.5 overs.
DOHS’s Indian recruit let Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury take command in their 110-run third wicket stand with the right-hander from Mymensingh cracking nine fours in his 62-ball 63. In the fourth wicket stand of 118 runs with Adnan Raza, Kaul got to his century off 105 balls before falling to left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib for a match-altering 105 off 112 balls with the help of a dozen boundaries.
Raza, the 24-year-old batsman from Lahore, made 57 off 76 balls while South African all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe breezed to a 24-ball 31 with the help of two sixes and a boundary, as DOHS ended their 50 overs on 294-5.
Saqlain was the most successful Abahani bowler, picking up three wickets.
The Dhanmondi giants made a terrible start with the bat as they lost their top five for just 55 runs in the 17th over. Stand-in captain Forhad Hossain was the only major contributor with a half-century that had four boundaries and two sixes.
van der Merwe took two wickets in a disciplined spell of nine overs while Shuvagata Hom, who opened the bowling with his occasional off-spin, also picked up two victims.
VICTORIA-GAZI TANK
In a game that began four hours late due to early morning rain in Bogra, Victoria managed a tricky 152-run chase in 23.1 overs much later in the day despite the loss of Shakib Al Hasan at a crucial juncture.
After Tamim Iqbal gave them a brisk start through his 40-ball 42, Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar shepherded the chase with two important knocks but the main point of interest in the game remained the innings by young Mominul Haque.
The left-handed batsman smashed five boundaries and four sixes in a superb and unbeaten 49-ball 71 that helped Gazi Tank to 151-7 in 24 overs.
For Victoria, Al-Amin Hossain, Shakib and Iqbal Abdullah took two wickets each.
MOHAMMEDAN-SHEIKH JAMAL
Mushfiqur Rahim continued his purple patch, hammering an unbeaten 92 as Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club reached 226-6 in 37.2 overs after being set 223 to win in 38 overs. The match was shortened to 38-overs-a-side because of a prolonged rain break during the Mohammedan innings, which eventually ended on 38 overs with the Motijheel outfit making 224-7.
The national skipper hit eight fours and two sixes during his 84-ball knock and was aided by Mehrab Hossain Jr, who made 47, and contributions from Mahmudul Hasan and Ariful Haque towards the end of the chase.
For Mohammedan earlier, their Sri Lankan recruit Danushka Gunathilaka and Imrul Kayes hit half-centuries.
SCORES IN BRIEF
OLD DOHS: 294-5 in 50 overs (Kaul 105, Shuvagata 62; Saqlain 3-54).
ABAHANI: 220 all out in 49.5 overs (Farhad 52; Shuvagata 2-43, van der Merwe 2-30).
Result: Old DOHS won by 74 runs.
GAZI TANK: 151-7 in 24 overs (Mominul 71 not out; Shakib 2-27, Iqbal 2-25, Al-Amin 2-43).
VICTORIA: 155-4 in 23.1 overs (Tamim 42, Shakib 30; Alauddin 2-23).
Result: Victoria won by six wickets.
MOHAMMEDAN: 224-7 in 38 overs (Imrul 52, Gunathilaka 51; Sunny 2-36, Baisya 2-48).
SHEIKH JAMAL: 226-6 in 37.2 overs (Mushfiqur 92 not out; Rasel 2-36, Noor 2-45).
Result: Sheikh Jamal won by four wikets.
-With The Daily Star input
