Rajshahi confirm Tier 1 promotion; Enamul stars with 10-for

Naeem Islam struck his maiden double-hundred across formats in Rangpur Division's draw against Dhaka Division in Khulna. He amassed 216 out of Rangpur's first-innings total of 560 for 8 (declared) which also included centuries from Suhrawadi Shuvo and Ariful Haque.

Naeem struck 23 fours and five sixes in his 349-ball innings that lasted eight-and-a-half hours. His 266-run fourth-wicket stand with Shuvo took Rangpur past 300, before he added another 183 runs for the sixth wicket with Ariful.

Rangpur batted till 3pm on the second day, with Shuvagata Hom returning the best figures - 3 for 125 - among the opposition bowlers. In reply, Minhaz Khan, Raqibul Hasan and Shuvagata made fifties, but could not convert their knocks into bigger scores. Dhaka were bowled out for 321 as Abdur Rahman bagged a four-for with his left-arm spin.

Asked to follow-on, Dhaka batted out 49 overs on the final day, crawling to 85 for the loss of Rony Talukdar. Opener Abdul Majid made a patient and unbeaten 52, having batted for more than three hours.

Barisal fought hard to draw against defending champions Khulna despite being asked to follow-on in Rajshahi.

Having elected to bat first, Khulna declared on 511 for 8 after Robiul Islam Robi and Ziaur Rahman made 114 and 152 respectively. Robi struck 17 fours while Ziaur blasted six sixes and 11 fours in his 222-ball knock. Barisal offspinner Sohag Gazi finished with figures of 4 for 148.

Three-wicket hauls from Nahidul Islam and Abdur Razzak helped Khulna skittle Barisal out for 296 runs in 92 overs, despite half-centuries from Salman Hossain, Moin Khan and Gazi.

Following-on, Barisal scored 296 again, but this time at the expense of only five wickets while playing out 110 overs. Captain Fazle Mahmud's 107 anchored the innings, with fifties from Rafsan Al Mahmud and Gazi, whose unbeaten 68 saved Barisal from defeat as the ten Khulna bowlers used could only dismiss five batsmen.

Delwar Hossain's all-round show - a match haul of 9 for 92 coupled with a half-century - and a second successive century from Mizanur Rahman powered Rajshahi to an innings and 13-run win over Chittagong in Bogra. With Sylhet defeating Dhaka Metropolis in the other Tier-2 game in this round, Rajshahi confirmed their promotion to next season's Tier 1.

Trailing by 143 after the first innings, Chittagong were shot out for 130 in 41.4 overs with Sadiqur Rahman's 48 being the only substantial contribution. Delwar's 6 for 23 - his career-best figures - helped him become the first quick bowler in this season's National Cricket League to grab more than five wickets in an innings. Delwar's charge with the ball was abetted by Farhad Reza, who coupled his first-innings four-for with two in the second.

Put in to bat, Chittagong scored 260 in the first innings on the back of a 128-run fifth-wicket stand between Saeed Sarkar (70) and Sazzadul Haque (95). Rajshahi replied with 403 courtesy Mizanur's 102, which included 13 fours and two sixes. Having hammered 143 in his side's previous game against Sylhet, Mizanur added 153 for the third wicket with nightwatchman Delwar, who scored his second first-class half-century (62). Later, the wicketkeeper-batsman Hamidul Islam (73*) added important runs in the lower order and strung an 88-run ninth-wicket stand with Saqlain Sajib.

A five-for in each innings from Sylhet's Enamul Haque Jnr handed Dhaka Metropolis a 190-run drubbing in Chittagong. In what was his seventh 10-for in his career, Enamul earned the distinction of becoming the first bowler to bag a 10-wicket match haul since the 2015-16 season.

Sylhet put together 319 after electing to bat, with captain Imtiaz Hossain making 132 in nearly five hours, peppering 17 fours during his innings. Shykat Ali, Nihaduzzaman and Sharifullah took three wickets each for Dhaka Metroplis.

Dhaka Metro were bowled out for 259 in 77.4 overs with captain Marshall Ayub scoring 98 off 149 balls as no other batsman crossed 40. Enamul took 5 for 96 from the 34 overs he bowled.

Headlined by half-centuries from Shanaj Ahmed, Shahanur Rahman and Abu Jayed, Sylhet added 263 runs to their 60-run first-innings lead. Nihaduzzaman took four wickets and Elias Sunny picked up three wickets.

After Sylhet declared on the final day to set a target of 324, Dhaka Metro lasted just 49.2 overs, as Enamul ran through the line-up with 5 for 63, skittling the opposition for only 133 runs.