Taijul fifty overwhelms Partex

Taijul Islam's unbeaten half-century at No. 8 helped Mohammedan Sporting Club secure a two-wicket victory over Partex Sporting Club at the BKSP-3 Ground in Savar.

Taijul came in to bat on Thursday with Mohammedan's 230 chase stuttering at 145 for 6. After the dismissals of Raqibul Hasan (34) and Rony Talukdar (16),Taijul added 76 runs in 13.4 overs with No. 9 batsman Sajedul Islam (27). Taijul hit four fours and two sixes during his 51-ball 57 and helped overhaul the target with two wickets and 10 balls to spare.

Earlier, Taijul had accounted for Jatin Saxena (4) and Rajibul Islam (14) during Partex's innings, which was largely steered by captain Irfan Sukkur (40) and Rakin Ahmed, who top-scored with an unbeaten 46 off 55 balls. Charith Asalanka, too, scalped two wickets while Kamrul Islam Rabbi claimed three to dismiss the opposition for 229 runs in 49.3 overs.

Abahani Limited narrowed the gap with league leaders Gazi Group Cricketers after registering an eight-wicket win over Victoria Sporting Club at the KSOA Stadium in Fatullah. Abahani now have 14 points from nine matches while Gazi Group have 16 points from one game less.

Victoria's decision to bat first found little validation as only three of their batsmen reached double figures. Abahani medium-pacer Mohammad Saifuddin dealt them the first blow when he removed Rubel Mia for an eight-ball duck. While wickets kept tumbling at the other end, Mia's opener partner Mohammad Arafat hung on till the 27th over, making 47 off 78 balls. Mohimenul Khan and Mehdi Mahbub were the other batsmen to manage double figures. It was Manan Sharma who cut through the middle and lower order to skittle Victoria for 130.

Manan ended with figures of 4 for 21 in six overs, while Saifuddin, Ariful Hasan and Saqlain Sajib took two wickets apiece.

Liton Das, who scored a century in Abahani's previous game, got his side off to a solid start, scoring nine fours in his 38-ball 50. Shadman Islam, the other opener, also made a fifty, helping the team achieve the target with eight wickets and 175 balls to spare.

Sharifullah's all-round show - a 73-ball 82 coupled with a three-for - headlined Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club's 29-run victory against Legends of Rupganj BKSP-4 Ground in Savar.

Put in to bat, Sharifullah anchored Doleshwars' innings with four crucial partnerships. Among those, his 49-run fourth-wicket stand with Marshall Ayub took Doleshwar close to 150 in 34 overs, before the latter fell for a 76-ball 60. Sharifullah then added 61 runs for the fifth wicket with Jaker Ali (30) and another 33 for the sixth wicket with Chathuranga de Silva before being undone by Raza Ali Dar in the 49th over. Even though left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain took five wickets, aided by Mohammad Sharif and Dar, who scalped two wickets each, Sharifullah's knock had laid the base for Dolweshwar to post a total of 276.

In reply, Rupganj started strongly, with the openers Hasanuzzaman (50) and Pinak Ghosh (19) adding 61 for the first wicket. Naeem Islam batted at a good pace and shaped the innings with an 82-run fifth-wicket stand with Yasir Ali but some tight bowling in the last 10 overs stemmed Rupganj's run-flow as they were finally shut down for 247 for 6 in 50 overs. Sharifullah's returns of 3 for 32 in his ten overs earned him the Player-of-the-Match award.