Staff Correspondent
Old DOHS and Bangladesh Biman continued their unbeaten run in the Dhaka Premier Cricket League with the defending champions Abahani hot on their heels after playing their respective fourth matches on Wednesday.
A fine 96 runs by skipper Mehrab Hossain Jr helped DOHS hand Mohammedan Sporting Club a 38-run defeat while Mashrafee bin Murtaza and Rony Talukdar inspired Abahani to a massive 111-run victory and high-flying Bangladesh Biman faced no trouble in beating Victoria Sporting Club by 106 runs in the other matches of the day.
Biman and DOHS are now sharing the top position with four wins. Abahani, whose only defeat came against Gazi Tanks, are in the second position with three wins.
DOHS v Mohammedan
Mohammedan, who had a tie, a win and a defeat respectively in their last three matches, lost the game mainly to Mehrab Hossain, the diminutive middle-order batsman, who held one end to guide DOHS to 251 before they were all out in the last delivery.
After opener Imtiaz Hossain gave them a rollicking start with a 29-ball 42, DOHS kept losing wickets from one end while Mehrab was shining from other. After coming on to the crease at 54 for two in the sixth over, the left-handed batsman survived until 47.4 overs when he fell just four runs short of a century.
Mohammedan stuttered in their chase right from the beginning before Marshall Ayub took charge and guided them to 213 with his 81 off 103 balls. Pacer Abul Hasan was again instrumental with the ball for DOHS with 3-45 that took his tally to 14 wickets in four matches in his first season in the Dhaka Premier League.
Abahani v Partex
Rony Talukdar, the revelation of the season, missed his second century for just one run when he was run-out for 99 runs off 96 balls, but the innings was enough to script another easy win for Abahani, who posted a challenging 289-6 after electing to bat first at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
Rony shared a 120-run partnership for the first wicket with Tamim Iqbal, who made his mark with 53 off 87 balls. Indian recruit Venu Gopal Rao smashed the third fifty for Abahani when he was unbeaten on 52 off 43 balls before Mashrafee created a storm with his 32 off 12 balls that included four fours and two sixes.
Mashrafee later claimed three wickets in his opening spell to reduce Partex to 4-11 leaving them with no chance of recovering the damage. Rezaul Haque smashed 91 off 137 balls before he was the fourth victim of Abahani captain Mashrafee as Partex saw off their 50 overs with 178 for seven.
Biman v Victoria
Biman relied on their teamwork to post a total of 216 after opting to bat first. Victoria’s new bowlers maintained a tight length and line to contain the Biman upper-order as they were struggling at 115 for five after the 30th over. One down Jahurul Islam’s 26 and skipper Sanwar Hossain’s 22 were the notable scores. Later former national all-rounder Mushfiqur Rahman scored 55 off 72 balls and Sajjad Kadir put on 25 to take Biman beyond the two hundred run mark. Aslam Ali Khan and Sharifullah both scalped two wickets each conceding 45 and 34 runs respectively.
Victoria were on the back foot from the very beginning with opener Arman Hossain, who had struck a match-winning ton against Mohammedan in the previous match, putting up some resistance with a 31-run knock. Akil Arshad’s 21 was the other notable score. Shakib al Hasan bagged two wickets for 21 runs and Md Shahzada picked up two for 22. Three run-outs added more owes to Victoria’s pursuit.
Courtesy: www.newagebd.com
