RESULT
Final, Mirpur, January 02 - 06, 2022, Bangladesh Cricket League
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(T:218) 438 & 221/6

Cent Z (BD) won by 4 wickets

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Central Zone reign supreme on the back of Shuvagata Hom's two centuries in BCL final

Central Zone were 68 for 6 chasing 218 before Hom and Jaker took the game away from South Zone

Mohammad Isam
Mohammad Isam
06-Jan-2022
Central Zone celebrate their four-wicket victory in the final of the BCL  •  Walton

Central Zone celebrate their four-wicket victory in the final of the BCL  •  Walton

Central Zone 438 all out (Mithun 206, Hom 116, Reza 4-53, Kamrul 4-70) and 221 for 6 (Hom 114*, Jaker 41*) beat South Zone 387 all out (Zakir 107, Murad 5-101) and 268 all out (Rishad 99, Hider 5-78) by four wickets
A day after Bangladesh's incredible win over New Zealand in Mount Maunganui, the domestic first-class final, too, culminated in a longer-version spectacle in Dhaka. Central Zone lifted their third BCL title, beating favourites South Zone by four wickets in a tense final day.
With his second hundred in the match, veteran Shuvagata Hom took Central Zone to the winning 218-run target after the side slipped to 68 for 6. Shuvagata, who was unbeaten on 114 in the fourth innings, added 153 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket with Jaker Ali, who struck the winning runs, making 41 in 124 balls.
It was the perfect finish to a seesaw game. Batting first, South Zone got off to a superb start when openers Anamul Haque and Pinak Ghosh put on 137. Both struck fifties before Zakir Hasan and Farhad Reza added 119 for the sixth wicket.
Left-hander Zakir made an unbeaten 107 off 161 balls, his eleventh first-class century. Farhad struck a quick-fire 67-ball 71 with three sixes and nine fours. Left-arm spinner Hasan Murad took 5 for 101.
Central Zone's reply got off to a terrible start when Farhad's four-wicket burst sunk them to 16 for 4 in the eighth over. But there was an incredible turnaround too. Shuvagata and Mohammad Mithun added 283 runs for the fifth wicket. Mithun struck his maiden double-hundred. He struck 27 fours and three sixes in his 306-ball 206. Shuvagata made 116.
Jaker also struck 53, adding 75 for the sixth wicket with Mithun. Farhad didn't take any more wickets after his initial four strikes, while Kamrul Islam Rabbi also took four wickets.
Central Zone took advantage of the 51-run lead, reducing South Zone to 119 for 7 on the fourth afternoon. Rishad Ahmed, from No. 9, though, then struck ten fours and four sixes but he missed out on a maiden first-class hundred when he fell on 99.
But his knock kept South Zone in the game. He notched up partnerships of 44 for the eighth wicket, 61 for the ninth wicket and another 44 for the tenth wicket.
Central Zone slipped to 26 for 3 in the final hour of the fourth day, and had an even worse fifth morning when they lost Soumya Sarkar, Taibur Rahman and Salman Hossain.
But Shuvagata and Jaker changed the course of the final with their big partnership, without taking too many risks as they had enough time through the rest of the day.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84

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