Dhanmondi overcome Asif Hasan's hat-trick in thrilling win

Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club overcame Asif Hasan's hat-trick to kick off their Dhaka Premier League with a nail-biting three-run win over Legends of Rupganj at the BKSP-4 ground in Savar.

Batting first, Dhanmondi Club's sprinted to a solid start, putting on 66 at over seven an over. Asif then struck thrice in as many balls across two overs to reduce them to 67 for 3. They never quite recovered from the stutter, slipping to 131 for 7. Nurul Hasan then added 75 for the eighth wicket with Al-Imran to haul the score over 200. They eventually ended up with 230 for 9, Nurul having top-scored with 90. Asif finished with 3 for 29 in 10 overs; Mohammad Sharif, Mosharraf Hossain and Naeem Islam, the captain, picked up two apiece.

Rupganj struggled in their reply, limping to 56 for five in the 21st over. Naeem fought alone with an unbeaten 116, but found support only from Nazmul Hossain Milon, who made 51 and added 89 for the sixth wicket with his captain. Abu Jayed, the Dhanmondi new-ball bowler, then struck thrice as Rupganj were kept to 227 for 8 in 50 overs.

Alok Kapali's unbeaten 95 helped Brothers Union to a five-wicket win in a chase of 231 against Mohammedan Sporting Club at the BKSP-3 ground. Kapali's 91-ball effort, compiled with the help of six fours and four sixes, helped Brothers Union run down the target in 47.2 overs.

Kapali and John Simpson, the English wicketkeeper-batsman, added 105 runs for the fourth wicket to get the chase back on track after Brothers Union had slipped to 51 for 3. Simpson made 39 off 57 balls.

Earlier, Mohammedan's 230 for 8 was built around their second and third-wicket partnerships. Salman Butt and Shamsur Rahman, the captain, added 94 after the early loss of Rony Talukdar, before Shamsur dominated a stand of 70 with Raqibul Hasan. Butt made 62 off 80 balls, while Shamsur's 85 contained six fours and two sixes. But after the duo's dismissals, the Brothers Union bowlers wereable to curb the scoring in the slog overs.

Fifties from Mehedi Maruf and Zakir Hasan helped Prime Bank Cricket Club canter to a seven-wicket win over Kalabagan Krira Chakra at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium.

Maruf and Zakir motored Prime Bank's chase of 173 with a first-wicket stand of 74, before Prime Bank's Indian recruit Kunal Chandela took them home with an unbeaten 41.

Earlier, batting first, Kalabagan were restricted to 172 for 8 in 50 overs. The runs were largely down to an unbeaten half-century from their No. 7 Mahmudul Hasan, and his sixth-wicket stand of 66 with Taibur Rahman (45). Seamer Delwar Hossain took 3 for 32 in 10 overs for Prime Bank.