BCL: Jaker Ali smashes another century, as Central Zone win again

Central Zone beat North Zone by 10 wickets to take pole position in Bangladesh Cricket League. Once again, it was Jaker Ali's century that made the difference, as he won successive Player-of-the-Match awards in the tournament after his 121 had earlier helped Central beat East Zone in the opening round.

Against North in Chattogram, Abu Hider and Musfik Hasan took three wickets each for Central to bowl North out for 169 on the first day. Only Saif Hassan's 73 stood out in their ordinary batting effort.

In reply, Central slipped to 64 for 5, before Jaker and veteran Sharifullah rescued them with a 164-run sixth-wicket stand. Jaker struck his second first-class century, making 138 off 241 balls with nine fours and three sixes. Sharifullah made 83 off 138 balls with nine fours, as Central piled up 335, taking a lead of 166.

For North, Tawfique Khan and Akbar Ali struck fifties in the second innings, but they were bowled out for 247, only slightly better than their first-innings effort. Hider took four wickets and Musfik two, as Central needed just 82 to win.

Abdullah Al Mamun then hammered an unbeaten 66 off only 70 balls with nine fours and three sixes, as Central got to the target in just 17.4 overs.

Jahurul stars against in draw against South Zone
Jahurul Islam struck 145 and 62 in East Zone's drawn game against South Zone in Cox's Bazar.

Batting first, East made 350, with Jahurul's painstaking century spanning seven hours and 23 minutes. He struck 15 fours and two sixes in his 294-ball stay. Jahurul added 83 for the fourth wicket with Shahadat Hossain, who made 60, while Mohammad Ashraful scored 49.

Medium-pace bowler Sumon Khan took four wickets for South, while Nazmul Islam picked up three.

South banked on half-centuries from Pinak Ghosh and Moin Khan to get to 335 in response, as offspinner Nayeem Hasan took 6 for 89 for East.

With a meagre 15-run lead, East were boosted by fifties from Jahurul, Ashraful and Ruyel Miah, while Moin took five wickets for South. Anamul Haque struck 51 in South's chase of 276, even as they batted hurriedly to get to 77 in less than 14 overs.

The BCL will now close off for the Bangladesh Premier League which starts next week. The competition will resume after the T20 tournament.