||Desk Report||

Farhad Reza led East Zone’s bowling charge in their Bangladesh Cricket League clash against Walton Central Zone, who spluttered to 118 runs in the first innings.

Reza spearheaded the pace bowling attack, bagging his maiden first-class seven-wicket haul while Abu Jayed took two wickets and Irfaan Hossain scalped one.

Three ducks were registered from the Central Zone camp as Reza wreaked havoc on their batting lineup. The all-rounder took the last three wickets of the opponents in four balls, missing out on a hat-trick opportunity.

Sharifullah was the top-scorer for Central Zone with a 23-run knock.

East Zone, in reply, were also unimpressive, as they finished the first day’s play at 37/1.

Shahadat Hossain, who hadn’t been drafted by any BCL teams until a few players left the tournament for the Emerging Asia Cup, earned his team a breakthrough in his very first match in this season by bowling out Rony Talukder for 18 runs.

Shamsur Rahman (9*) and Mahmudul Hasan (9*) will resume the innings for Islami Bank East Zone on the second day.

Scores
WCZ – 118/10
IBEZ – 37/1*
Day 1 (Stumps): East Zone trail by 81 runs