Batsmen dominate Day One

The overlooked players of the domestic circuit continued to perform consistently across the country as they shined bright on the first-day of the fifth-round of the 19th National Cricket League yesterday.

In the Tier-1 encounter between Rangpur and Dhaka Division at the Sheikh Abu Naser stadium in Khulna, twin centuries from national discards Naeem Islam and Sohrawardi Shuvo helped Rangpur dominate the day and post 321 for 4 at stumps.

Left-hander Sohrawardi smashed his fourth first-class hundred before being dismissed on 145 runs off 203 balls featuring 18 fours and two sixes while Naeem registered his 23rd first-class ton and remained unbeaten on 120 runs off 214 balls, which included 15 fours and two sixes as he became the seventh Bangladeshi to reach the 7000 first-class run mark.

After electing to bat, Rangpur were struggling on 55 for 3 inside the first session but then the Naeem-Sohrawardi pair rescued the side by adding 266 runs for the fourth wicket. As for the Dhaka Division bowlers, off-spinner Shuvagata Hom picked up three wickets while Mosharraf Hossain took one.

At the Shahid Kamruzzaman stadium in Rajshahi, Khulna batsman Robiul Islam Robi struck his second hundred in the ongoing league as the defending champions posted 307 for 4 in their Tier-1 match against Barisal.

Khulna made a solid start with Robiul and Anamul Haque adding 110 runs for the opening wicket before the latter was dismissed on 44. Right-hander Robiul then continued his brilliant run and scored 108 runs off 196 balls with 17 fours before retiring hurt due to cramps. After that, experienced campaigner Tushar Imran scored a fifty while all-rounder Ziaur Rahman will resume the second day on 52. Barisal's medium-pacer Salman managed two wickets in the day while Shohag Gazi and Moin Khan picked up one each.

Meanwhile in the Tier-2 Sylhet-Dhaka Metro tie, Sylhet's opening batsman Imtiaz Hossain, enjoying a terrific run of form for the past few years in the domestic circuit, registered a 10th first-class hundred, his second consecutive century of the tournament, at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium in Chittagong.

The right-hander scored 132 runs off 217 balls including 17 fours during his near five hour stay at the crease where Sylhet kept losing wickets from the other end to finish the day's play on 241 for 6.

Sylhet's other veteran batsman Rajin Saleh scored 42 while Ezaj Ahmed remained unbeaten on 27 and will resume on the second day. Saykat Ali, Nihad Uz Zaman and Sharif Ullah each took two wickets for Dhaka Metro.

As for the other Tier-2 game, bowlers led the way as Rajshahi bundled out Chittagong for 260 in their first innings at the Shaheed Chandu stadium in Bogra.

In reply, Rajshahi quickly lost two wickets and will resume the second day on 34, trailing by 226 runs.

Rajshahi's medium-pacer Forhad Reza scalped four while Delwar Hossain and Shariful Islam took three wickets each.

Chittagong were struggling on 71-4 before Sazzadul Haque and Sayeed Sarkar added 128 runs for the fifth wicket to avoid initial damage. Sayeed was soon out after scoring 70 while Sazzad missed out on his century by just five runs as he was dismissed on 95 runs off 176 balls, which included 12 fours and a six.

SCORES IN BRIEF 
BARISAL VS KHULNA DIV
KHULNA: 307 for 4 in 90 overs (Robiul 108 retired hurt, 
Ziaur 52 not out, Tushar 51; Salman 2-60) 
SYLHET VS DHAKA METRO
SYLHET: 241 for 6 in 90 overs (Imtiaz 132, Rajin 42; Saykat 2-35, Sharif 2-67 )
RANGPUR VS DHAKA DIV
RANGPUR: 321 for 4 in 89.2 overs (Sohrawardi 145, Naeem 120 not out; Shuvagata 3-95) 
RAJSHAHI VS CHITTAGONG
CHITTAGONG: 260 all-out in 72.4 overs (Sazzadul 95, Sayeed 70; Forhad 4-86, Shariful 3-49, 
Delwar 3-69) 
RAJSHAHI: 34 for 2 in 9 overs ( Mizanur 20 not out; Shakhawat 1-4) Rajshahi trails by 226 runs.