The 20^th matchday of DPL started with the 58^th match of the league between Mohammedan Sporting Club and Khelaghar Samaj Kalyan Samity. The other two matches of the day saw Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club facing Kalabagan Krira Chakra and Brothers Union taking on Legends of Rupganj.

Batting first, Mohammedan posted a below-par score of 181 runs losing all wickets. After a 73-run opening stand and a half-century from opener Jony Talukder, Mohammedan’s efforts were not proven enough against a sublime Khelaghar bowling-attack.

A 34-run knock by the 9^th batsman Taijul somewhat salvaged some pride for Mohammedan in the end. Tanvir Islam played a pivotal role for Khalaghar by taking 4 wickets.

While chasing the puny target, Khelaghar needed nothing more than two fine half-centuries from Amit Majumder and Al Menaria. Amit scored 76 runs before returning to the pavilion and Menaria remained unbeaten on 54 until Khelaghar sealed the match with a 6-wicket victory.

The match between Sheikh Jamal and Kalabagan ended up with the latter losing it by 73 runs. Pinak Ghosh, Rakin Ahmed, and Tanbir Hayder’s knock powered Sheikh Jamal to pose a fighting total of 263 runs. Pinak made 49 runs whereas Rakin scored 71. Tanbir remained not out and clubbed 61 runs to take the team-total past 250.

In reply, Taibur Rahman and Muktar Ali registered 51 runs each but the likes of Mohammad Ashraful failed to score enough runs resulted in Kalabagan getting restricted to 190 runs.

While Abul Hasan scalped 3 wickets for the losing side, Elias Sunny strangled Kalabagan’s batting line-up by bagging 4 wickets.

The 60^th encounter of the league saw Brothers Union putting up a poor total of 178 runs and Legends of Rupganj chasing it down successfully with 7 wickets in hand.

After a 77-run opening partnership, Brothers Union lost 10 wickets while adding the next 101 run. After Mizanur Rahman’s innings of 63 runs, no other batsmen could make their mark. Rupganj’s Asif Hasan and Mohammad Shahid worked brilliantly to confine the opponents to a low score by picking up 4 wickets apiece.

Coming on to chase down a target of 179 runs, Abul Mazid made Rupganj’s work easy and single-handedly cruised them to victory with a solid innings of 94 runs while remaining unbeaten. Mohammad Naim and Naeem Islam provided him support with their innings of 32 and 36 runs, respectively.

After this game, Legends of Rupganj moved up to the 2^nd spot with 14 points from 10 matches, the same as the league-leader—Abahani Limited. Khelaghar Samaj Kalyan Samity are also in contention for the top spot with 12 points. However, Mohammedan and Brothers Union remain in the bottom half of the table while Kalabagan still have not managed to move up from the last position.

Abahani will face Shinepukur in their next match on 18^th March and Rupganj will take on Agrani Bank in the last match of the league on March 20.

 

Score:

58th match

Mohammedan Sporting Club – 181/10 (45.4 overs)

Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity 182/4 (41.3 overs)

Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity won by 6 wickets