Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam continued his wicket-taking spree as he wreaked havoc on Prime Bank South Zone by claiming eight wickets, putting BCB North Zone in a comfortable position on the opening day of the Bangladesh Cricket League final at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Friday. Taijul ripped through the opponents’ batting line-up taking 8-86 and played a pivotal role in dismissing South Zone for 271 in 83 overs before North Zone made 15-0 in the remaining eight overs to trail by 256 runs.
Taijul, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 35 scalps so far, just proved too hot for the South Zone’s batsmen to handle as he picked up wickets regularly during the innings, bowling 31 overs.
Taijul also played a key role in propelling his team into the final by bagging 11 wickets in their crucial encounter against Walton Central Zone with his of his razor-sharp spin bowling.
The left-arm spinner from Natore did not waste the chance of matching his own form in the final as he picked up five or more wickets for the fifth successive time and proved right the decision of his skipper Nasir Hossain, who opted to bowl on a wicket suited for batting.
South Zone’s openers Imrul Kayes and Anamul Haque took time to settle down and were looking quite solid in the middle before Taijul broke the partnership by removing Anamul after the pair had added 44 runs.
All-rounder Soumya Sarker (70) decided to play the anchor role as Imrul Kayes (38) and Mithun Ali (25) departed without giving him much company as North gradually took control by reducing them to 91-3.
Soumya and Shuvagata Hom scored a half-century each and repaired the South Zone’s innings by putting on 89 runs for the fourth wicket that also gave them a platform for making a good total.
Taijul started his demolition act again, breaking the partnership when Shuvagata after making 60 runs from 72 balls lost his wicket with Naeem Islam taking the catch after he added 33 runs with Taibur Parvez, who joined him after Soumya was injured when on 51 runs.
Later the wickets fell at regular intervals to give the BCB North Zone a real chance to book the opponents under 250 runs before Soumya returned and along with Ziaur Rahman added 39 runs for the ninth wicket.
Soumya made 70 runs before Taijul again ended his resistance.
Brief scores
Stumps, Day1
BCB North Zone v
Prime Bank South Zone
Prime Bank South Zone 1st innings 271 in 80 overs (S Sarker 70, Shuvagata 60, Taiabur 39, Imrul 38; Taijul 8-86, Sanjamul 2-46) v BCB North Zone 1st innings 15-0 in 8 overs.
-With New Age input
