Brothers Union have pulled off a remarkable comeback to beat Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's Kalabagan Krira Chakra by nine runs in the Dhaka Premier League.
Published : 18 May 2016, 09:57 PM
At BKSP-3, pacer Mohammad Sharif has recorded the first hat-trick for Gazi Group Cricketers this season in a rain-reduced clash with Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in the other encounter on Wednesday.
Brothers sealed a dramatic nine-run win after Kalabagan imploded in their chase, failing to score 25 runs with seven wickets in hand.
Riding on determined knocks from skipper Tushar Imran (77) and Imrul Kayes (67), Brothers posted 262 after being asked to bat.
Hamilton Masakadza (111) set up the chase with a superb century, as Kalabagan looked set for a comfortable win.
Needing 25 to win in the last five overs with Masakadza at the crease, Kalabagan lost their last seven wickets for just 15 runs and slipped to their fifth defeat in seven matches.
The Zimbabwean batsman capitalised on a 56-run opening stand by Shadman Islam (30) and Jashimuddin (30).
He shared a brisk 122-run third wicket stand with Tasamul Haque (45) to lift Kalabagan to 238 for 3.
Spinner Nabil Samad, who took out Tasamul in the 42nd over, triggered the collapse with the wicket of Mehrab Hossain Junior (6) in the first ball of the 45th over.
Spinner Asif Hasan struck hard in the next over.
Mashrafe sent a return catch back to the bowler and Masakdza ran himself out as Brothers fought back to turn the match on its head.
Although the target still looked within reach with four wickets in hand, Nabil and Milind Kumar took two more to inflict more misery on Kalabagan.
Sadiqur Rahman then grabbed the last two wickets in successive deliveries in the last over to seal Kalabagan's fate.
Masakadza was adjudged the Man-of-the-Match for his century.
Hat-trick blow
The match was reduced to 38 overs after a long spell of rain interruption in the 30th over.
The 32-year-old right-arm seamer registered the seventh List A hat-trick by a Bangladeshi, moments after the first rain-break at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.
He was also involved in a run-out and returned 4-43 in 8 overs to help his team restrict Sheikh Jamal to 168-9.
Asked to bat first, Abdullah Al Mamun (69) and Joyraz Sheikh (28) gave the Dhanmondi Club a solid start, scoring 62 runs for the opening stand.
Saeed Anwar Junior made the breakthrough by sending back Joyraz and Marshall Ayub (6). Mahmudullah (30) then steadied the ship, sharing a 44-run stand with Abdullah, who walked back just before the rain swept in.
After play resumed, Sheikh Jamal looked steady with Mahmudullah rebuilding the innings. He took Sheikh Jamal to 149-3 but Sharif then ran through the middle order and ended their hopes of a flourish in the final overs.
Mahmudullah, Zabid Hossain (13) and Nazmus Sadat (0) walked back in successive deliveries in the 34th over.
Gazi Group was then set a 196-run target in 38 overs on Duckworth-Lewis method. But rain struck once again with Gazi Group on 83-3 in 16.1 overs and ended the day's play.
The match will resume from there with Anamul Haque (38) and skipper Alok Kapali (13) at the crease for Gazi Group.