Mahmudullah ton lifts Dhanmondi to fourth place

Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club jumped from eighth to fourth place in the Dhaka Premier League 2016 points table after their 11-run win over Brothers Union in an absorbing game at the BKSP-3 ground. Brothers too had the chance to go to fourth place, but slipped to ninth place instead.

Mahmudullah, the Dhanmondi captain, struck 107, his second century of the season, to carry them to 252 for 8 after being inserted. In reply, Dhanmondi's bowlers showed fight to restrict Brothers to 241 for 8 in 50 overs.

Brothers were cruising at 184 for 3 in the 41st over after Imrul Kayes, and captain Tushar Imran had struck half-centuries. Muktar Ali, the right-arm medium pacer, removed Milind Kumar at that stage, after which the required rate crept and wickets tumbled regularly.

Shafiul Islam was particularly good towards the last few overs, and finished with 3 for 40. Mahmudullah too finished with three wickets, including Zakir Hasan and Nur Alam, at a critical juncture.

Earlier, Mahmudullah struck five fours and three sixes in his 114-ball knock. He added 119 runs for the third wicket with Marshall Ayub, who contributed 54 off 84 balls. Offspinner Sanjit Saha took 3 for 69 from his 10 overs.

At the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Kalabagan Krira Chakra hung on for an eight-run win against Victoria Sporting Club in a nail-biting contest.

Mehrab Hossain jnr's unbeaten 86 had carried Kalabagan to 213 in 49 overs after they had elected to bat.

In reply, Al-Amin top-scored for Victoria with 67 off 77 balls, before Jubair Ahmed's unbeaten 35 nearly took them home.

Victoria lost their ninth wicket in the 45th over with 36 runs still required for victory. The last-wicket pair of Jubair and Kamrul Islam Rabbi then got the equation down to 12 off the final over, sent down by Dewan Sabbir, the right-arm pacer, but couldn't knock off the requisite runs. After a single by the more settled Jubair off the first ball, Rabbi played out a dot ball. He then ran two, but Sabbir bowled him with the fourth ball to give Kalabagan their third win, and some breathing room from the relegation zone, occupied by Kalabagan Cricket Academy and CCS.

The loss prevented Victoria, who remained at nine points from eight games, from keeping pace with Rupganj.

Offspinner Sharifullah took 3 for 32, while Abdur Razzak and captain Mashrafe Mortaza picked up two each.

Earlier, Mehrab almost ran a one-man show and struck four boundaries in his pugnacious 112-ball knock. With Kalabagan 174 for 9, Mehrab added 39 runs in an unbroken tenth-wicket partnership of 39 - the second highest of the innings after the 44-run opening stand between Shadnam Islam and Jashimuddin - with Sabbir to take Kalabagan past the 200-run mark. Mehra's efforts earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.

Mahbubul Alam, the right-arm medium pacer, playing his first match for Victoria this season, took 3 for 54, while Rabbi, Chaturanga de Silva and Al-Amin took two each.

At the Fatullah Cricket Stadium, Mohammad Mithun crunched 90 off 114 balls to manoeuvre Legends of Rupganj's chase of 243 and help them to a six-wicket win over Cricket Coaching School.

Asked to bat, CCS rode on captain Rajin Saleh's unbeaten 106 - his first century of the season - to put up 242 for 7. Half-centuries from Mithun and Asif Ahmed, who scored an unbeaten 72, steered Rupganj to 243 for 4 in 48.2 overs.

The win took Rupganj, on 11 points, to third place, while CCS remained rooted at eleventh place after eight games.

Mithun's knock, which contained four boundaries and two sixes, pulled Rupganj out of trouble after they had been reduced to 45 for 2, with Soumya Sarkar and Junaid Siddique, the two openers, dismissed. Mithun added 44 for the third wicket with Ishank Jaggi, the Jharkhand middle-order batsman, before adding 127 more for the fourth wicket with Asif, who struck six fours in his unbeaten 75-ball knock.

Saif Hassan, the offspinner who opened the bowling, took 3 for 38.

Saif, however, didn't score too many after CCS had been asked to bat. But Rajin guided them to a respectable total.

Rajin added 99 for the third wicket with Amit Majumder who made 56. CCS suffered a wobble thereafter, slipping from 144 for 2 to 162 for 6. Rajin stopped the slide by adding 55 with Saeed Sarkar for the seventh wicket.

Mosharraf Hossain, the Rupganj captain, took 3 for 32, while left-arm spinner Taijul Islam took two wickets in an economical spell.