Liton Das' 85 sets up big Abahani win

Liton Das' 73-ball 85 led a strong batting performance by Abahani Limited, who brushed aside Prime Bank Cricket Club by 60 runs in the 2017 DPL's first Super League game - a rain-affected affair at the BKSP-4 ground in Savar.

Das' effort was complemented well by Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Mohammad Mithun, the Abahani captain, who both struck quick half-centuries of their own to lift Abahani to 321 for 6 in an innings curtailed to 47 overs. In reply, Prime Bank were snuffed out in 43.3 overs for 273.

Das laid out a solid platform for Abahani with a century stand for the second wicket in the company of Saif Hassan who struck a more sedate 46. After Das fell, having struck eight fours and four sixes, Shanto and Mithun added 107 more for the fourth wicket. Atif Hossain and Manan Sharma then raced away to unbeaten cameos to shore up Abahani.

Prime Bank's innings was strewn with batsmen perishing after getting off to starts. Five of their top six made a score in excess of 20, but Zakir Hasan's 55 was the highest score. Prime Bank captain Asif Ahmed mounted a late fightback, but ran out of partners. He struck 32 of the 44 runs his team scored after his arrival at 229 for 7, before becoming the last man to be dismissed. Manan led Abahani's bowling efforts with 3 for 54, while Afif, Shuvagata Hom and Mohammad Saifuddin took two each.

A 641-run slugfest at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium ended with Mohammedan Sporting Club prevailing by seven runs, consigning Gazi Group Cricketers to their third consecutive defeat.

Mohammedan ran up 324 for 8 after half-centuries from Rony Talukdar (92) and Shamsur Rahman (74) at the top. Chasing a stiff target, Gazi Group were off to a flying a start, but ended up on 317 for 8.

Anamul Haque and Munim Shahriar kicked off the chase with a 61-run opening stand in 6.4 overs. Kamrul Islam Rabbi struck in the seventh over to end Anamul's burst on 36 off 22 balls. He had struck three fours and two sixes. Mominul Haque fell soon after, but Shahriar repaired the damage with identical stands of 64 for the third and fourth wickets, with Jahurul Islam and Parvez Rasool respectively.

Shahriar fell for 88 in the 39th over, after which Suhrawadi Shuvo kept Gazi afloat with a 51-run seventh-wicket stand with Mahedi Hasan. Though Shuvo and Mahedi struck a combined 84 runs, they only managed three fours between them, and the lack of boundaries hurt Gazi in the end. Kamrul, Bipul Sharma and Sajedul Islam took two wickets each.

When Mohammedan batted, they were lifted by a 148-run second-wicket stand between Shamsur and Talukdar. The stand ended with Shamsur's dismissal for 74 that had one four and five sixes. Talukdar fell in the 35th over, after the score had crossed 200. Thereafter, Bipul (28 off 31) and Nazmul Hossain Milon (47 off 33) made handy contributions to propel them to a big total. Mahedi (1 for 49) and Rasool (1 for 51) impressed in their respective quotas.

In another curtailed game, at the BKSP-3 Ground in Savar, Imtiaz Hossain's career-best 128 vaulted Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club to a 40-run win over Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club.

Imtiaz, who struck 17 fours and four sixes, made nearly half his team's runs as Prime Doleshwar put up 274 for 7 in an innings shortened to 46 overs. In reply, Dhanmondi Club were bowled out for 251 after their batsmen failed to convert their starts.

Imtiaz's second-wicket stand of 176 with Shahriar Nafees (67) formed the bulwark of Prime Doleshwar's total. Sharifullah later made a valuable late contribution through a 27-ball 35.

Three of Dhanmondi Club's batsmen made 40s, including Tanbir Hayder, who top-scored with 46, while Ziaur Rahman made 37. But none hung on to make a big score.

Five of the six bowlers used by Prime Doleshwar were among the wickets. Chathuranga de Silva and Arafat Sunny were the most impressive of the lot with figures of 2 for 38 and 2 for 41 in their respective nine overs.