Opener Liton Kumar hit a sparkling hundred as Abahani Limited romped to a seven-wicket win over Kalagagan Cricket Academy in their Dhaka Premier League 10th round match at Fatullah on Thursday. Liton, recently included in the 30-man preliminary squad for World Cup, cracked 108 off just 77 balls as Abahani eased into 186-3 after dismissing KCA for 185 in fog-reduced 33-over-a-side game.
This was the sixth successive win of Abahani, which confirmed their berth in the Super League.
KCA must now beat Victoria SC in their last game to progress or wait for the result of fellow contenders.
Victoria kept their Super League hopes alive with a 28-run win over Brothers Union, who have been thrown out of race.
Leaders Prime Bank CC strengthened their grip on the points table by handing Kalabagan Krira Chakra their eighth loss in 10th matches.
Abahani Limited v Kalabagan CA
In-form national batsman Sabbir Rahman struck six fours and five sixes to play a blistering innings of 83 from 64 balls after opener Imtiaz Hossain gave KCA a fine start with 48 off 60 balls in the curtailed over match.
Abahani, who saw Saqlain Sajib and Al-Amin Hossain each taking two wickets, did not face any difficulty in chasing the target as Liton shared 147-run opening stand with Abdul Majid.
Liton who is now by far the top-scorer in the league with 568 runs, completed his century off 70 balls before he was finally dismissed by Mehedi Hasan Miraz. Majid carried to score 45 off 78 balls and Hamilton Masakadza did the rest with his unbeaten 13.
Victoria SC v Brothers Union
Put into bat in the fog hit 34-over-a-side match, Victoria got off to a solid start with openers Mahabubul Karim and Jasimuddin scoring 57 runs for the first wicket.
With Jasimuddin dismissed for 34 and Mahabub for 31, national opener Imrul Kayes played a superb knock of 72 off 73 balls to propel the side to 203-6.
Imrul hit six boundaries and three sixes in his knock before Nadif Chowdhury added 25 off 32 balls.
Denly Joseph Liam, Asif Hasan and Ahmed Sadiqur grabbed two wickets apiece for Brothers.
In reply, in-form opener Avishel Mitra shared an 88-run opening stand with Yasir Ali Chowdhury.
But after the fall of Yasir and Avishek, who made 65 and 52 respectively, Brothers lost the momentum and were left stranded at 169-9 when bad light stopped the play with just one over to go. Victoria were declared winners by D/L method.
For Victoria, Abu Haider and Sohrawardi Shuvo grabbed two wickets each.
Prime Bank CC v Kalabagan KC
Shadman Islam blasted his third fifty by scoring highest 54 off 51 balls while opener Soumya Sarkar added 35 runs as Prime Bank put a challenging 193-6 in 25 overs at the SBNS.
Abdur Razzak and Nasum Ahmed clamed 3-38 and 3-28 respectively but could not stop Prime’s run flow.
Needing almost eight runs per over, Kalabagan were never up to their task and were finally restricted to 146-9 with Tasamul Haque scoring highest 31.
Taijul Islam, Farhad Reza and Enamul Haque Jr each claimed two wickets for the league leaders.
Brief Scores
Abahani Limited v Kalabagan CA
KCA 185 in 32.5 overs (Sabbir Rahman 83, Imtiaz Hossain 48; Saqlain Sajib 2-21, Al-Amin Hossain 2-44) v Abahani Limited 186-3 in 32 overs (Liton Kumar 108, Abdul Majid 45); Result: Abahani Limited won by 7 wickets.
Victoria SC v Brothers Union
Victoria 203-6 in 34 overs (Imrul Kayes 72, Jasimuddin 34, Mahabubul Karim 31; Denly Liam 2-26, Asif Hasan 2-27) v Brothers Union 169-9 in 30 overs (Yasir Ali Chowdhury 65, Avishek Mitra 52; Abu Haider 2-12, Sohrawardi Shuvo 2-35); Result: Victoria SC won by 28 runs.
Prime Bank CC v Kalabagan KC
Prime Bank 193-6 in 25 overs (Shadman Islam 54, Souyma Sarkar 35; Nasum Ahmed 3-28, Abdur Razzak 3-38) v Kalabagan KC 146-9 in 25 overs (Tasamul Haque 31; Taijul Islam 2-19, Enamul Haque Jr 2-23, Farhad Reza 2-36, Enamul Haque Jr 2-23);
Result: Prime Bank CC won by 47 runs.
-With New Age input
