Tasamul century lifts Kalabagan out of relegation zone

A superb unbeaten 126 by Tasamul Haque lifted Kalabagan Krira Chakra out of the relegation zone and into contention for the Super League, guiding the team to a six-wicket win over Mohammedan Sporting Club.

Kalabagan climbed to eighth place with ten points, level with three other teams, while Mohammedan went down one place to third after their fourth defeat in the competition.

In a high-scoring encounter at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium, Kalabagan lost Jashimuddin off the the second ball of their innings while chasing 291. But Tasamul and opener Hasanuzzaman added 140 for the second wicket in under 18 overs to bring them back into the contest. Hasanuzzaman blazed to 95 off 53 balls with eight sixes and four fours.

Paras Dogra, their new Indian recruit, and Mehrab Hossain jnr fell cheaply but Tasamul and Tanveer Haider sped from the 24th over, adding an unbroken 129 for the fourth wicket. Tanveer finished not out on 52 while Tasamul, who struck eight fours and two sixes, ended on 126 off 129 balls. Tasamul struck his second six to take Kalabagan home, the win coming with 6.5 overs to spare.

Mohammedan virtually had no reply with the ball, with most of their in-form bowlers like Subashis Roy, Naeem Islam jnr and Habibur Rahman going for plenty.

They had a better time with the bat. Bipul Sharma, who played for the IPL-winning Sunrisers Hyderabad side, struck his maiden List A hundred as Mohammedan piled up 290 for 6 in 50 overs. Dewan Sabbir bowled Bipul after he had made exactly 100, with six boundaries and eight sixes.

He came to the crease with Mohammedan in trouble at 69 for 3, and went on to add 171 for the fourth wicket with captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who chipped in with a 71-ball 75.

Victoria Sporting Club crushed Brothers Union by 112 runs in Mirpur, after Abdul Mazid's first century of the competition lifted them to a formidable 302 for 9. Mazid dominated the 170-run opening stand with Fazle Mahmud, which lasted 33.3 overs. Mazid cracked eleven boundaries and four sixes in his 118 off 117 balls, his highest List-A score.

Though they lost Mazid and Mominul Haque in the space of three balls, and Mahmud - for 71 - in the 39th over, Victoria didn't lose much momentum, taking 84 runs off the last ten overs with Al-Amin, Chaturanga de Silva and Dhiman Ghosh making rapid contributions. Left-arm spinners Nabil Samad and Asif Hasan took four and two wickets respectively, while offspinner Iftekhar Sajjad bagged two.

Brothers Union collapsed in their chase, with only their captain Tushar Imran standing firm, scoring his fifth half-century of the season. The other five members of their top six, however, fell single-figure scores as Brothers Union slipped to 92 for 8 in the 27th over.

Tushar and Asif then added 97 for the ninth wicket, but it only delayed the inevitable. Brothers Union were eventually bowled out for 190 in 45.3 overs. Tushar made 93 off 126 balls with eleven fours. Pace bowler Mahbubul Alam took three wickets while there were two each for offspinner Al-Amin and paceman Kamrul Islam Rabbi.

Legends of Rupganj trounced Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club by seven wickets at the BKSP-3 ground. It was a fine effort for a side that was without their captain Mosharraf Hossain and their in-form wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Mithun, both serving one-match bans.

Nahidul Islam made 92 and Junaid Siddique was unbeaten on 53 as Rupganj completed a chase of 185 with 17.1 overs to spare. Nahidul, who earlier took 2 for 38 with his offspin, struck nine fours and three sixes during his 99-ball innings. He came to the crease after Jahurul Islam was given leg-before off the first ball of the innings.

He added 46 for the second wicket with Soumya Sarkar, who was also out leg-before, and another 125 for the third wicket with Junaid. Nahidul's end also came through a leg-before decision, though by then the win was only 13 runs away.

Sent in to bat, Dhanmondi lost wickets regularly. Left-arm spinners Murad Khan and Taijul Islam took three wickets each after seamer Alauddin Babu struck twice in the fourth over to remove the big-hitting Mahbubul Karim and the steady Marshall Ayub. Abdullah Al Mamun (24), Mahmudullah (35) and Nazmus Sadat (41) steadied Dhanmondi's innings, but they collapsed thereafter, losing their last six wickets for just 28 runs to slump from 156 for four in the 36th over to 184 all out in 45.