The final round matches of the National Cricket League begin today in the different venues of the country with table-toppers Dhaka Division looking to end Rajshahi Division’s long-standing domination in the competition. Dhaka are pitted against Khulna Division in Cox’s Bazar while Rajshahi, who are breathing down the neck of Dhaka, will be playing Dhaka Metro in Chittagong.
In the other matches of the day, Chittagong will take on Sylhet at the BKSP while Rangpur will play against Barisal at the Fatullah outer stadium.
Rajshahi, who won the title on several occasions, are now 21 points adrift of leaders Dhaka.
They still have a chance of clinching the title. But that will only happen, if they win their final game against Dhaka Metro with bonus 25 points and hope that Dhaka Division lose against reigning champions Khulna.
These two games will determine the course of the title as after the sixth round, Dhaka topped the table with 111 points followed by Rajshahi on 90 points.
The points table confirms that no team other than those two sides could clinch the title as the rest of the six teams are well below have no chance of winning the tournament.
Khulna are in third place with 80 points after the penultimate round. A team can earn maximum 25 points with bonus in a single match, so they are not in a position to clinch the title.
Rangpur (69), Sylhet (64), Dhaka Metro (57), Chittagong (43) and Barisal (28) also are not a threat anymore.
Rajshahi and Dhaka have shown a great level of consistency in the ongoing league. Rajshahi won three matches and drew three while Dhaka won highest four matches, lost one and drew one.
Dhaka began the league with a 10-wicket win over Rangpur and then followed it with an innings and 99 runs win over Chittagong. They lost to Sylhet by nine wickets afterwards. In the fourth match, they drew with Rajshahi before sealing consecutive wins against Dhaka Metro and Barisal, beating them by 46 runs and eight wickets respectively.
Rajshahi, on the other hand, started the league with a 93-run victory over Sylhet. Later, they defeated Barisal by 131 runs before drawing three matches in a row against Rangpur, Dhaka and Khulna. In the sixth round, they beat Chittagong by 403 runs.
-With New Age input
