The much talked-about match between arch-rivals Abahani and Mohammedan Sporting Club had an anti-climactic finish with the Dhanmondi outfit recording a 10-wicket victory at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Saturday.
Medium pacer Abul Hasan bowled a fierce spell to take four wickets, including three in one over, as Abahani dismissed Mohammedan for a humiliating 93 runs before romping to 94-0 with 31 overs in hand.
Mohammedan agreed to play the game only after the match referee foiled Abahani’s bid to field Rajat Bhatia, their sixth registered overseas player, who joined the club only the previous night.
The Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis amended the by-laws on Saturday allowing the registration of seven overseas players, two more than what was agreed upon previously. The decision was taken apparently to favour Abahani, who already had signed five foreigners.
Mohammedan said they would boycott the league if the decision is implemented in Sunday’s game against them. Their skipper Sakib al Hasan went for toss after they were verbally assured by the match referee of non-participation of Bhatia.
Abahani however, still tried to convince match referee Akhter Ahmed, who refused to accept the name of Bhatia in the players’ list as he did not have any written document of any by-laws change.
The drama over Bhatia’s participation delayed the game for around 20 minutes and consequently the match was reduced to a 48-over-a-side affair.
Mohammedan won the toss and elected to bat first with Tamim Iqbal beginning the innings in his usual style. Tapash Baishya did not allow him to cause any significant damage making him a catch of wicketkeeper Anamul Haque for 12 off eight balls.
However, it was Tapash’s bowling partner Abul who stole the show with his second-over burst when he claimed three wickets including that of Sakib, the snob all-rounder who did not rate Abahani much high despite them leading the table.
It left Mohammedan struggling at 21 for four and they could not recover.
Abahani faced little trouble in overhauling the total with promising opener Anamul making an unbeaten run-a-ball 54.
Anamul made a mockery of Mohammedan bowling, hitting part-timer Tamim Iqbal for a four to finish the game. Ironically, Tamim’s opening partner in the national team Imrul Kayes was unbeaten at the other end scoring 38.
‘They lost because they underestimated us and took us lightly,’ said Abahani coach Khaled Mahmud.
‘Their captain was pretty confident of having an easy win against us. But we always believed in ourselves.’
Sakib was still firm in his opinion and claimed they are a much better team.
‘It was just a bad game for us. We can still win the league provided we win all matches,’ said Sakib.
When it was pointed out to him that even if they win in every game it will not be enough as they currently trail Abahani by three points, Sakib said it should not be an issue.
‘I think Abahani have every chance to lose more than one game,’ he said.
