Dhaka end League campaign with win

Dhaka division celebrated their National Cricket League (NCL) title victory with a five-wicket win over defending champions Khulna in the fourth and final day of the last round on Tuesday.

Dhaka had already secured their title on day two of their last round match against Khulna at the Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium in Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong.

Dhaka started the day with 96 for one, needing 128 more to win. They reached the target losing four more wickets before tea.

Rony Talukdar made a crucial contribution, scoring 90, to set his side off for shore. He hit 11 boundaries and two sixes in his 240-ball innings.

Talukdar’s effort was complemented by Taiabur Parvez (39) and Abdul Majid, who made an unbeaten 34 for Dhaka.

Khulna made a bold attempt to bowl out Dhaka as their skipper Abdur Razzak sent ten players to bowl, including wicketkeeper Mithun Ali – who sent back Shuvagata Hom for his one wicket.

Dhaka were table-toppers, ending with 133 points, while Khulna finished fourth with 84 points.

Rajshahi Division pulled off a dramatic win riding on a superb 155-run seventh wicket stand between Sabbir Rahman (85) and Farhad Reza (80) in their chase for 272 runs in the second innings to win against Dhaka Metro.

Sabbir, who was adjudged the Man of the Match, scored 64 runs to help Rajshahi score to 207 in the first innings in reply to Metro’s 126 at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.

But Metro batted well in their second innings to score 352 runs, leaving Rajshahi to chase 272.

Rajshahi finished behind Dhaka Division on the second spot with 111 points, while Metro finished seventh with 60.

Rangpur Division defeated Barisal by an innings and 25 runs to finish third on the table with 92 points.
Barisal languished at the bottom of the table with 31 points at the eighth place.

Chittagong Division bagged a win in their last round match against Sylhet by a huge margin of 258 runs. Mominul Haque played a superb 168-run second innings knock to lead the coastal team to victory and be adjudged Man of the Match.

Chittagong finished sixth in the competition with 64 points, while Sylhet were fifth with 67 points.