Sharif, Marshall lead Central Zone to big win

Central Zone crushed North Zone by 202 runs to go top of the table in the Bangladesh Cricket League. They recovered from 103 for 5 to post 260 in the first innings, thanks largely to forties from Sharifullah and Mohammad Sharif down the order. For North Zone, Ariful Haque took four wickets while Subashis Roy picked up two.

Sharif continued the fightback with the ball too, taking four wickets to help bowl North Zone out for 168. Left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain took three wickets. Naeem Islam played North Zone's only real innings of note, scoring 61 off 124 balls, hitting nine fours.

Central Zone swelled their lead substantially in the second innings thanks to Marshall Ayub and wicketkeeper Zabid Hossain, who added 239 for the second wicket. Marshall struck his 13th first-class hundred, making 141 off 231 balls with 18 fours and two sixes. Zabid made 91 off 242 balls with ten fours.

Farhad Hossain took 5 for 49, but Central Zone's declaration at 329 for 7 left North Zone needing an unlikely 422 to win, with part of the final session of day three and all of day four left to bat out. They ultimately folded for 219, with Sharif and Shuvagata Hom taking three wickets each. Batting at No. 9, Muktar Ali tonked a boundary-strewn but ultimately futile unbeaten 60 off 58 balls, with seven fours and four sixes.

East Zone had the better of a drawn game against South Zone, finishing with eleven points to six.

Batting first, South Zone were bowled out for 262 with Tushar Imran and Mosaddek Hossain hitting fifties. Seamer Abu Jayed took four wickets.

In reply, East Zone rode on Mominul Haque's 112 and Zakir Hasan's 128 to post 407. Mominul added 156 runs for the third wicket with Tasamul Haque, who made 87. Tasamul then added 99 runs for the fifth wicket with Zakir and then added another 99 runs with Yasir Ali.

For South Zone, Abdur Razzak took five wickets. They fared better in their second innings than their first, making 353 with fifties from Anamul Haque and Taibur Rahman. Iftekhar Sajjad took five wickets while Nazmul Islam picked up four wickets.

With time running out, the fourth innings was a largely academic exercise, with East Zone making 112 for 4 in 26 overs.