Abahani win battle of prestige in Premier Cricket League
An all-round performance came from Abahani Limited saw them to record an overwhelming 112-run victory over their arch- rival Mohammedan Sporting Cub Limited in the sixth round of Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Mirpur today.
Chasing a winning target of 260 runs set by Abahani Limited, Mohammedan found the chase stiff losing wickets in regular intervals in the face of tight bowling displayed by the Abahani's bowlers and eventually dismissed at a paltry total of 147 in 30.4 overs, reports BSS.
With this victory, Abahani maintained their top slot in the points table with 12 points while Mohammedan Sporting Club remained at sixth position with their previous credit of six points.
Pacer Mashrafe Mortza threatened early inroad on Mohammedan innings removing top three Mohammedan's batsmen - Jony Talukder, skipper Shamsur Rahman and Rony Talukder - within 11.3 overs.
Irfan Sukkur (40), the top scorer of Mohammedan innings, pairing with Raqibul Hasan (28) stopped the rot sharing a brief 38-run fourth wicket stand before Sunzamul Islam struck again on Mohammedan's innings sending back to Irfan. Raqibul then fell to Taskin Ahmed, leaving Mohammedan in a deep trouble.
After that, Mohammedan could not fight back in the match as they lost their remaining five wickets in only 26 runs. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and pacer Mashrafe shared three Mohammedan's wickets each conceding 28 and 37 runs respectively. They were well supported by Manpreet Gony who bagged two wickets by giving 25 runs.
Anamul Haque of Abahani Limited was named as the player of the match for his impressive batting performance.
Earlier, Abahani rode on Anamul Haque and Nasir Hossain's brilliant half centuries, scored a competitive total of 259 runs before they were bowled out by Mohammedan in 49.4 overs, after they were invited to bat first by Mohammedan.
Abahani were off to a steady start before they lost opener Saif Hassan in the seventh over but Anamul Haque, who scored 63 from 81 deliveries with four fours and two sixes, shared a useful 70-run second wicket partnership with Nazmul Hossain Shanto. Both Nazmul and Anamul fell in quick succession in the 22nd and the 25th over respectively, but Mohammed Mithun Ali kept the scoreboard moving in the middle with a quick fire 45-ball off 47 runs with two fours and three sixes.
Skipper Nasir Hossain then came to the crease as he led from the front with an impressive innings of 73-ball off 67 runs that studded with seven boundaries. Nasir was eventually removed by Mohammad Azim, who emerged as most successful bowlers for Mohammedan taking three wickets for 26 runs.
Layer late blaze by Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (17-ball off 26 runs) helped Abahani Limited set a challenging target in front of Mohammedan.
