Bangladesh: Abahani canter, BU sweat Kalabagan Warried (17 December 1998)

17 December 1998

Bangladesh: Abahani canter, BU sweat Kalabagan Warried

Our Sports Reporter

The Janakantha Premier Division Cricket League offered mixed fortunes for the biggies at different city venues yesterday.

At the Bangabandhu National Stadium an upset was the order of the day when lowly-rated Wari Club handed title contenders Kalabagan KC a stinging 58-run defeat.

Last year's runners-up Brothers Union posted a sensational two-run win against Victoria SC at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium.

But, belying the expectations of their rivals, Abahani recorded an impressive 86-run win over promotees Sadharan Bima at the BKSP ground in Savar.

Holders Abahani, defending a modest 206 on a dicey wicket at the BKSP, shot Sadharan Bima out for a meagre 120 in 46.4 overs to celebrate their second successive victory.

Resuming the day on 20 for two, Sadharan Bima were bundled out 11 minutes after the lunch break in the face of some fired-up bowling from national right-arm seamer Hasibul Hossain, who returned with a four-wicket haul.

Hasibul, who scored a vital 37 in Abahani's moderate total before striking twice in the final session on Tuesday, mopped up the Bima tail to finish with 29 for four in his 14 venomous overs.

He was ably supported by left-arm spinner Masud, who took three wickets for 19 in his nine overs.

For Bima, skipper Babu scored highest 36. Totam (15) Rajinder Singh (13) and Tareq (10) were the other double digit scorers for the vanquished.

But the day's thriller was played at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium where Victoria, chasing a fighting Brothers total of 306 for nine in the stipulated 80 overs, ended up with 304 for nine in their allotted overs.

Victoria needed 12 runs from the last six deliveries, but they could manage only ten, letting their more colourful opponents off the hook. But it would have been a different story had Imran, who fought a lone battle with an unbeaten 70, got the much-needed support from the other end.

Victoria were well on course when they raced on to 224 in 61.3 overs with their opener Moniruzzaman and Imran in full flow. But the rot started when Monir, on 92 off 200 balls, embellished with nine fours, was caught in the covers off spinner Sanwar Hossain. Within three more overs Victoria slipped to 234 for six. There were still hopes for Victoria when Jewel Hossain put on 30 runs for the seventh wicket with Imran.

But once Jewel ran himself out while chasing a non-existent third run, Victoria's hopes were virtually dashed.

Although Victoria buckled under pressure in the crunch hour, Wari lived up to their reputation as giant-slayers when the Motijheel outfit, defending a huge 321 for six, restricted Kalabagan to 263 for nine in the 80-overs-a-side affair.

It was Wari's first win in two outings.

For Kalabagan, the defeat at the nascent stage of the league, served a stunning blow in their bid for a maiden league title. The new powerhouse was only to be blamed for the debacle. They did not bowl well, their fielding on Monday was miserable. Their butter-fingered fielders dropped as many as nine catches, allowing Tariq to score a match-winning 105.

Kalabagan were never up in their chase. They were off to a horrible start losing both their openers Sajid Hasan and Harun -ur Rashid with the score on only 19 from where they never really recovered.

Mahabubur Rahman Selim with 64 and Pakistan Shahid Saeed, who made 34, tried to mend the early damage putting on 73 runs for the fourth wicket. But both departed in quick succession evaporating the glimmer of hope of a Kalabagan come-back.

Tariq, who made most of the sloppy fielding and bizarre catching to score the second ton in the league this season, added another feather to his cap on Tuesday by claiming two wickets for 77 runs in his allotted 16 overs.

Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)