|| CF Correspondent ||

Batsman Towhid Ridoy and Irfan Shukkur struck half centuries to guide Nazmul XI to a comfortable four-wicket win over Mahmudullah XI in the first match of the BCB President’s Cup at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.

Ridoy made 52 while Shukkur scored unbeaten 56 runs as Nazmul XI reached 197-6 with 53 balls in hand after dismissing their opponent for 196.

There was a time when Nazmul XI was struggling at 79-5 before the duo resurrected the ship adding 105 runs for the sixth-wicket stand.

Earlier, skipper Mahmudullah scored a superlative half-century to help his side post 196 runs but that looked too small to defend,

 Nazmul XI won the toss and elected to bowl first and their bowlers were backed by lightning fielding performance to dismiss the opponent below 200 runs.

Ahead of the match, a minute’s silence was observed in memory of cricket personalities who passed away in recent months and fatal victims of Covid-19 in the country.

After that, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan declared the tournament open but it turned out to be a laughing stock as the balloon had to be pushed by individuals so that it does not hit the ground, courtesy sub-standard gas.

Pacers helped Nazmul XI take wickets at regular intervals as Taskin, Al Amin and Mugdho bagged six wickets among themselves while apart from Mahmudullah only Imrul Kayes stood tall scoring 40 runs.

Both the Nazmul XI and Mahmudullah XI included 12 players in the team as per the rules of the tournament but 11 players can bat and field for both of the teams at a time.