A brilliant century by Nasir Hossain helped Gazi Tanks beat Abahani by five wickets in their Super League match on Monday and bolster their title chance.
A six-wicket haul by Tanvir Haider powered Old DOHS to a 12-run victory over Mohammedan SC in Rajshahi despite their Pakistani recruit Shoaib Malik scoring a century.
On a day of upsets, last year’s runners-up Bangladesh Biman lost by a huge margin of 83 runs against Cricket Coaching School in Bogra.
With two more matches left in the Super League, Gazi Tanks are now level with Abahani on 22 points which gives them a huge chance to lift their maiden title.
Despite their second successive loss, Mohammedan still have a mathematical chance as they trail Abahani and Gazi Tanks by only three points.
Gazi Tanks v Abahani
Nasir Hossain, who almost singlehandedly guided Gazi Tanks to an upset win over Mohammedan in the previous match, was again instrumental in their win with an unbeaten 102 runs off 122 balls at the BKSP.
Sent in to bat first, Abahani were able to put 218-9 on the board, mainly because of another timely 117-run partnership between Marshal Ayub and Rajat Bhatia for the fourth wicket.
Rajat scored highest 70 off 98 balls for Abahani while Marshal contributed with 69.
Gazi Tanks were in a heap of trouble when they started their run chase, losing three wickets with only 35 runs on the board.
Nasir and Sanjamul Islam built a 60-run partnership for the fourth wicket to repair the early damage before Alok Kapali joined the former to anchor the innings.
Nasir played the key role in their 82-run stand and stayed until the end to guide his team to 219-5 with 21 balls left.
Mohammedan v Old DOHS
Tanvir Haider’s brilliant 6-45 condemned Mohammedan to their second consecutive defeat as the holders were restricted to 267-9 replying to DOHS’s 279-8.
Nazimuddin and Shoaib Malik gave Mohammedan a solid start with an 83-run stand before Rashed Hanif made the first breakthrough.
Malik continued his innings before he was out as the fifth batsman with 111 off just 103 balls to his name as not other batsman was able to rise to the occasion.
Earlier, Aftab Ahmed showed some kind of form during the course of his blistering 84 off 83 balls and Javed Omar supported him at the top order with 55 off 71 balls as DOHS put on a formidable total.
Leg-spinner Nur Hossain claimed four wickets for Mohammedan but not before conceding 75 runs.
Biman v CCS
CCS piled up a massive 323-5, riding on four half-centuries from Amit Majumder (84 off 100 balls), Shubhagata Hom (79 off 96 balls), Nazmul Hossain (61 off 36 balls) and Suleman Khan (56 off 31 balls)
Nazmul Hossain later accomplished all-round performance with 4-27 as Biman were all out for 240 in 45.3 overs.
Jahirul Islam, who scored a century in the previous match, made highest 84 runs for the national flag carriers.
