Tushar Imran hits twin tons to star in round of draws

Tushar Imran struck twin hundreds in South Zone's drawn BCL match against East Zone in Sylhet. He became the second batsman this season after Junaid Siddique and the 12th overall to achieve the feat in Bangladesh domestic first-class cricket - Tushar is also the leading run-scorer on this circuit.

Tushar's first-innings 130 came after South Zone had lost two early wickets on the opening morning. He added 165 runs for the third wicket with Fazle Mahmud, who made 89 off 161 balls with 11 fours and a six. Tushar scored his runs off 221 balls, and had 15 fours and a six. South Zone were 403 all out on the second day. Pace bowler Khaled Ahmed took four wickets while Abu Jayed and Mohammad Saifuddin took two each.

In reply, East Zone were bowled out for 300 with Jaker Ali top scoring with 76 and Liton Das and Saifuddin making 75 each. Jaker and Saifuddin added 114 runs for the seventh wicket. Pace bowler Kamrul Islam Rabbi took four wickets while Abdur Razzak and Nayeem Hasan took three each.

Tushar struck a second ton on the final day, having struck 12 fours and two sixes in his 145-ball knock. This was his third century in a row in the BCL, his fifth in the 2017-18 season and the 26th century of his career.

Set 415 to win in the remaining four hours on the final day, East Zone's Liton and Afif Hossain made the most of the opportunity. During their unbroken 205-run second-wicket stand, Liton made 113 off 129 balls with 11 fours and four sixes while Afif struck 10 fours and three sixes in his 100 off 131 balls.

Four centuries dominated the runs-heavy draw between North Zone and Central Zone in Bogra.

Mushfiqur Rahim scored only his second hundred in Bangladesh domestic first-class cricket while his North Zone team-mate Mizanur Rahman equalled Tushar Imran's five hundreds in the 2017-18 season.

Central Zone's Shadman Islam also reached a hundred in the match during a 200-run opening stand with Saif Hassan who fell for 94. Shadman struck nine fours in his 107 off 239 balls while Saif struck 12 fours and a six in his 243-ball effort.

Marshall Ayub then took over the baton on the second day, top scoring in the game with 132 off 210 balls with 14 fours and a six. He put together a 108 runs for the sixth wicket with Tanbir Hayder before adding a further 67 with Mosharraf Hossain whose unbeaten 83 took Central Zone to a formidable 529 all out spanning the first two days.

North Zone were bowled out for exactly 300 runs in 93.1 overs. Mushfiqur top scored with 111, adding 83 runs for the sixth wicket with Ariful Haque. Mushfiqur struck eight fours and a six in his nearly six-hour stay at the crease.

Pace bowler Ebadot Hossain took career-best figures of 4 for 61 while Abu Hider and Mosharraf took two each.

Asked to follow on on the final day, North Zone reached 213 for 2 before the match was declared a draw. Mizanur was 100 not out, having struck four boundaries and a six in his 191-ball knock. He added 154 runs for the second wicket with Nazmul Hossain Shanto, who made 89 off 152 balls.