Ziaur's unbeaten fifty thumps defending champions Abahani

Ziaur Rahman smashed five sixes in his unbeaten half-century as Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club defeated defending champions Abahani Limited by six wickets at the KSOA Stadium in Fatullah. His 57-ball 73 paved the way for their 270-run chase, and closed out the game for Dhanmondi Club with 12 balls to spare.

Ziaur came in to bat after Dhanmondi Club were struggling at 3 for 160 in the 33rd over. He shared a 102-run fourth-wicket stand with Nurul Hasan, who struck three fours in his 43-ball 46. Ziaur, an allrounder with a reputation of being a big-hitter, clobbered six sixes, with two of them landing deep into the stands over midwicket. He skied another over long-on, as the Abahani bowling attack, in the absence of Taskin Ahmed, were left reeling under pressure.

Fazle Mahmud and Dhanmondi Club's Indian recruit Prashant Chopra had earlier laid the foundation with a 114-run second wicket stand. Chopra made 57 off 86 balls with five fours and a six while Mahmud retired hurt on 63 with a leg injury, having struck two fours and as many sixes in his 86-ball knock.

Earlier, having elected to bat, Abahani gave away a good start as they were bowled out for 269 runs in 50 overs. Liton Das and captain Mahmudullah made 62 each but there was no real push from the rest of the line-up as they fell about 30 runs short on a pitch that had very little in it for the bowlers.

That, however, didn't stop legspinner Tanbir Hayder from finishing with four for 45 in his ten overs while Shahadat Hossain and Abdur Razzak took two wickets apiece.

Mominul Haque smashed Bangladesh's third highest List-A score as Gazi Group Cricketers picked up their fourth win in a row, beating Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club by 35 runs at the BKSP-3 Ground in Savar. They are now the only team with eight points and, thus, are placed top of the points table.

Mominul's 152 came after Mohammedan Sporting Club's Tamim Iqbal struck 157 in this year's league opener against Kalabagan Krira Chakra. Coming in to bat in the second over with Gazi Group having put only two runs on the board, Mominul finished with 16 fours and six sixes in his 120-ball innings in what is arguably his best knock in domestic cricket. This was his third hundred in the List-A format; he had struck 104 against the same opposition in Dhaka Premier League's last season.

He added 153 runs for the third wicket with Nasir Hossain, who contributed with 64 off 76 balls, before adding another 101 runs for the fourth wicket with Parvez Rasool who hit three sixes in his 54-ball 53. Gazi Group, however, failed to accelerate from 263 for 4 in the 42nd over, as they tumbled to 307 all out in the penultimate over of the innings, having lost their last seven wickets for 44 runs within the space of seven overs.

For Prime Doleshwar, seamers Farhad Reza and Delwar Hossain took four and three wickets respectively.

Much in the fashion of Gazi Group, Prime Doleshwar, too, lost an early wicket but recovered through a 72-run second-wicket stand between Imtiaz Hossai (42) and Shahriar Nafees (36). They, however, slipped to 98 for 5 in the 21st over. Their Afghan recruit Samiullah Shenwari (55) and wicketkeeper Jaker Ali (52) added 103 runs for the sixth wicket.

Once the two set batsmen were removed within the space of 11 deliveries, followed by captain Farhad's dismissal soon after, the chase only had academic interest. Doleshwar laboured to 272 for 9 in 50 overs as Nasir took three wickets while Shafiul Islam picked up two.

Legends of Rupganj thumped Kalabagan Krira Chakra by two wickets at the BKSP-4 Ground in Savar, where the game had to be reduced to 27 overs a side due to a wet outfield.

Having elected to bat first with the game starting at 1pm after a four-hour delay, Kalabagan posted 176 for 8 in 27 overs with Mehrab Hossain jnr carrying his bat through his 81-ball 79.

Mohammad Sharif, Mosharraf Hossain and Mashrafe Mortaza took two wickets each.

Mushfiqur Rahim top-scored for Rupganj with 44 off 53 balls - studded with three fours - while Hasanuzzaman, Ashar Zaidi and Mashrafe chipped in with brisk knocks to take their side close to the target. Rupganj's chase, however, required the ninth-wicket pair of Sharif and Mahmudul Hasan to complete the win with two balls to spare.

Abul Hasan, Muktar Ali and Sanjit Saha took two wickets each for Kalabagan.