Sheikh Jamal seal semifinal, Mohammedan make exit
Elius Sunny. -Cricfrenzy
||CF Correspondent||
Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club confirmed the semifinal of the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) T20 tournament by virtue of being the leader of Group C after they sealed the consecutive second victory, snatching a four-run victory over Uttara Sporting Club by D/L method on Wednesday at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium.
Jamal’s victory meant traditional powerhouse of domestic cricket Mohammedan Sporting Club was ousted from the tournament despite their 30-run victory over Legends of Rupganj in another match of the venue on the same day.
Mohammedan earlier in the first match conceded a 22-run defeat at the hands of Shiekh Jamal. Mohammedan’s departure from the tournament came at the same day when their archrivals Abahani Limited were also exited from the tournament after their 49-run defeat to Prime Bank Cricket Club at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Sheikh Jamal, however, showed a superior team performance in their bid to seal the last four spot. In a rain-curtailed match, Jamal posted 72 for in eight overs. The rain again interrupted the proceedings of the match, leaving Uttara a requirement of 64 runs in seven overs. They, however, scored 59 for five in the stipulated over to taste the four runs defeat.
Opener Fardeen Hasan was the highest scorer for Jamal with 18 ball-25 while his fellow opener Imtiaz Hossain made 12. Nasir Hossain was the other batsman to reach double-digit figure with 11 as rain-shortened game prompted them to go for berserk from the very beginning.
Sajjad Hossain of Uttara claimed three for eight runs after delivering just one over. Sheikh Jamal bowlers bowled well in tandem to curb the aggression of Uttara batsmen who got chance to snatch the victory after the overs were reduced. Opener Ashraful Islam was the highest scorer with 12 while Moheiminul Khan and Shakir Hossain Shuvro contributed identical 11.
Left-arm spinner Elius Sunny grabbed two wickets for 11 runs while Salahuddin Shakil, Shahidul Islam and Ziaur Rahman bagged one wicket apiece. Opting to bat first, Mohammedan piled up a moderate 143 for nine with Nadif Chowdhury hitting the highest score—a 34 ball-41 not out with two fours and one six.
Opener Avishek Mitra made a whirlwind start, striking a 13 ball-22 but none of the top-order could match to his aggression. However, Nadif kept the one end intact and got able support from lower order batsman Alauddin Babu who smashed two fours and as many sixes in his 30 off 23.
Saqlain Sajib, Nihaduzzaman and Shahadat Hossain Rajib, however, made the total a stronger one for Legends of Rupganj by striking at regular interval. They all picked up two wickets apiece to finally restrict Rupganj for 113 for eight in 20 overs. Skipper Naeem Islam was the top-scorer for Rupganj with 28.
