Soumya and Anamul in contention for T20I squad against Sri Lanka
The fifth edition of Walton Dhaka Premier League kicked off with three matches on its very opening day. With the national team playing a Test series against Sri Lanka, the Tigers' ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza along with the likes of Soumya Sarkar, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Shuvagoto Hom and, Afif Hasan set the opening day of DPL on fire.
While Bangladesh national team need an opening batsman to accompany Tamim Iqbal in the upcoming T20I series against Sri Lanka, Anamul, and Soumya proved that they are still in contention for the spot with their sparkling performances on Monday.
Abahani Ltd, led by Mashrafe Mortaza won their first clash against Khelaghar Samaj Kalyan Samity by 9 wickets. Winning the toss, Khelaghar decided to bat first.
Mashrafe Decked their top-order, Sunzamul Islam and Saqlain Sojib wiped out the rest of the batting line-up. All three of these bowlers got three wickets apiece while Nasir Hossain also bagged a wicket as Khelaghar were restricted to 154 runs.
Khelaghar’s batsman at no.6, Moinul Islam Sohel, played the highest individual innings of 43 runs for his team. On the other hand, Abahani chased down the target successfully with 9 wickets and 24.4 overs remaining.
Ashok Meneria got the only wicket for Khela Ghar as he dismissed Saif Hasan. Saif scored 39 runs before returning to the pavilion. Anamul Haque Bijoy remained unbeaten on 86 runs and Nazmul Hossain Shanto made 23 runs at the other end as Abahani ensured their victory.
Khelaghar Samaj Kalyan Samity innings: 154/10(41 ov),
Abahani Ltd innings: 155/1(25.2 ov),
Abahani Ltd won by 9 wickets
Another match ended up with Agrani Bank Cricket Club winning against Gazi Group Cricketers by 8 wickets. Winning the toss Agrani Bank elected to bowl first and confined Gazi Group to 176 runs despite a good start from their openers.
Gazi Group openers – Mehedi Hasan and Shofiul Hayat Hridoy scored 46 and 28, respectively. Then their batting line-up collapsed as there were no good knocks from the batsmen, except for a decent innings of 31 runs from Rajat Bhatia.
Soumya Sarkar and Shahbaz Chouhan played a pivotal role for Agrani Bank in their bowling innings to crush the opponent’s top-order. They picked up the first four wickets as both of them hit twice each. Shahbaz took another scalp later as Khan Abdur Razzak Raj and Al Amin Hossain also got two wickets apiece.
Soumya’s all-round performance helped his team clinch a comfortable win as he later clubbed 89 runs and remained not out after opening the innings for Agrani Bank. Another opener, Azmir Ahmed, made 15 runs before Mehedi Hasan trapped him lbw. Mehedi also took the next wicket as Shahriar Nafees got out scoring 4 runs.
After being 38 for 2, Soumya and Rifat Ullah stood firm to avoid further wicket-falls and sealed the clash with a win. Rifat Ullah picked up his half-century and finished the match by remaining unbeaten on 55 runs.
Gazi Group Cricketers innings: 176/10(46.1 ov),
Agrani Bank Cricket Club innings: 178/2(39.3 ov),
Agrani Bank Cricket Club won by 8 wickets
The match between Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club and Shinepukur Cricket Club also ended with the chasing team winning it by 5 wickets.
Shinepukur opted to bowl after winning the toss. They took 7 wickets while allowing Prime Dolweshwar to score a below-par total of 188 runs. Sujon Howlader and Shuvagoto Hom scalped two wickets each as the other three wickets were taken by three different bowlers – Md. Saifuddin, Md. Raihan Uddin and Nayeem Islam.
Shinepukur lost three quick wickets registering only 49 runs. Then Marshal Ayub came on to bat and kept the score ticking. However, he could not resist another wicket-fall but then he stitched an 88-run stand with Shahanur Rahman which took them near a hardly defendable total.
Ayub scored 74 runs before Sujon Howlader took his wicket. Shahanur got dismissed making 32 runs.
While chasing the total, Shinepukur lost their top-order by posting 58 runs, 41 of which came from Mohammad Sabbir Hossain’s bat. Then U19 star Afif Hossain Dhrubo exhibited a solid innings alongside Shuvagoto Hom. Both smashed a fifty each but could not remain on the crease until the very end.
Afif was the first one to leave the pitch after a 113-run partnership as he got out caught and bowled by Shahanur. Shuvagoto got dismissed by Slauddin Sakil in the next over when Shinepukur needed only 17 runs to achieve a triumph over Prime Doleshwar. Towhidul Hridoy and Saifuddin finished the job by adding 9 runs and 8 runs, respectively, to the scorecard.
Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club innings: 188/7(50 ov),
Shinepukur Cricket Club innings: 189/5(33.3 ov),
Shinepukur Cricket Club won by 5 wickets
