||Desk Report||

Defending champions Abahani Limited, Legends of Rupganj and Uttara Sporting club began Dhaka Premier League (DPL) 2019 campaigns with victories in their respective matches held on Friday.

Abahani beat Bangladesh Krira Shikha Protisthan (BKSP) in the opening day by 60-run. In the first inning, Abahani managed to score 216 for 9.  Jahurul smashed unbeaten 121 and Saifuddin knocked 55 for the last year champions. Naser took 3 for 39.

In reply, BKSP bowled out at 156. Abdul Kayum scored the highest for his side 38 and remained unbeaten while Ratul scored 37. However, Nazmul Islam picked 3 for 30 while Sunzamul took 2 for 41.

Legends of Rupganj locked their horns with Brothers Union and won the match by three wickets in the last over thriller. After winning the toss Rupganj invited Brothers to bat. However, with the help of Yasir Ali’s 65, Brothers posted 220 for 8. Among the others, Sharifullah scored 35, Fazle Rabbi 34. Muktar took  2 for 38 while Nabil claimed 2 for 41.

In chasing of 221, Shahriar Nafees hit 59 that led his side to the win. Azmir and Asif also added 38 runs each. Rupganj needed 9 runs in the final over while Chirag Jani, the Indian recruit of Brothers, came to bowl. He gave away one run in the first two balls, but in the third delivery, got an over-boundary by Muktar Ali. In the fourth and fifth balls, Rupganj took two more runs that led them to win. Jani took 3 for 64 while Sahrif picked up 2 for 35.

On the day’s another match, Uttara outplayed the stronger opponent Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club by 9 runs.

Uttara posted 249 for 4 as Tanzid Hasan and Anisul Islam Emon handed a solid start of 113 runs in the opening stand. Tanzid knocked 64 while Emon scored 47. Another batsman Sojib Hossain hit 61 while Minhaz Khan added 38 for Uttara. Tanbir Hyder bagged two wickets for Sheikh Jamal.