Bangladesh: Tarun give Mohammedan a sleepless night (27 December 1998)

27 December 1998

Bangladesh: Tarun give Mohammedan a sleepless night

Our Sports Reporter

A century partnership between opener Athar Ali and one-down Al-Shahriar and two quick fiery innings from veteran all-rounder Enamul Haque and Pakistan off-spinner Arshad Khan in the late helped new giants Surjo Tarun to score a fighting total against title aspirants Mohammedan Sporting in one of the three two-day Janakantha Premier Division Cricket League matches, which began at different city venues yesterday.

At the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan (BKSP) ground in Savar, title chasers Biman

were 21 runs short of their fourth successive win at close of the first day's play after they successfully booked promotees Orient Sporting for a meagre 140.

Meanwhile, promotees Sadharan Bima were on 46 for one in 16 overs in reply to a mediocre Victoria Sporting total of 175 at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium.

Discarded national opener Athar Ali and national all-rounder Al-Shahriar scored 103 runs for the second wicket as Surjo Tarun, opting to bat first, piled up 319 for eight in their stipulated 80 overs.

After Surjo Tarun lost opener Parvez (11) on 35 in the 11th over, when the right-handed opener was brilliantly taken by Tikolo at first slip off a Zakir delivery, the duo laid down the foundation for a big total taking the score to 138 in 39 overs.

It was Mohammedan skipper and left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique, who broke the partnership, when he trapped Al-Shahriar leg before on 55.

The right-hander tried to play across on an incoming delivery only to see the ball striking his front foot plumb before the off stick.

Rafique, the southpaw who eventually finished with three for 71 from his 16 overs, then struck once again after four overs to dismiss settled opener Athar Ali with yet another gem of a delivery that trapped the tall opener leg before. Athar Ali was seen unhappy with the decision while leaving the ground.

After Athar's departure, Surjo Tarun, who tasted their first defeat at the hands of Biman in their previous match last week, lost two more wickets, that of wicketkeeper Khaled Masood and Ridwan Hasan in quick succession, which left them on 176 for five in the 58th over.

Masood, who was promoted in the order to number four, was brilliantly caught by Sheikh Salauddin at square-leg when he tried to pull left-arm seamer Manjurul Islam after scoring 16 while Ridwan was magnificently taken by a running Tikolo at the midwicket region off a Sheikh Salauddin delivery.

National all-rounder Enamul Haque then throttled Surjo Tarun to cross the three hundred mark with a run-a-ball 68.

After adding 47 runs for the sixth wicket along with skipper Minhazul Abedin, who was brilliantly taken by Zakir at point on 15 when the former national skipper tried to cut Rafique, Enamul added another valuable 74 runs for the seventh wicket with Pakistani Arshad Khan that came from only 63 balls.

The partnership was broken at 297 in the 78th over when Enamul was bowled by off-spinner Sheikh Salauddin.

In his 68-ball stay at the crease, Enamul, who made a chancy start, hammered six boundaries.

Then came the swashbuckling innings from Arshad Khan, who remained undefeated on 48 off only 31 balls, which ultimately took the Dhanmondi outfit to 319 for eight at the end of their allotted 80 overs. The tall right-hander smote four fours and a huge six off Rafique over the long-on rope.

Away at the BKSP, Biman were on 120 for four in 29 overs at stumps.

Electing to bat first, Orient, one of the two new-comers in the 12-team elite league, were shot out for 140 in 48.4 overs.

Biman's left-arm spinner Saifullah Khan and new-ball bowler Nasir Shawkat evenly shared six wickets conceding 28 and 31 runs respectively, while the other four Orient wickets were also evenly shared by Biman's medium-pacer Mohammad Talha and Pakistani leg-spinner Manzoor Akhter.

In the other match of the day, Victoria, who opted to bat first, were bundled out for 175 in the face of some brilliant bowling from Sadharan Bima's medium-pacer S. Islam Totam, who returned with six for 19 from his 14 overs that included nine maidens.

Totam was ably supported by M. Zaman Moin, who took three wickets for 32 runs.

In reply, needing 176 runs in 80 overs for their second league victory, Bima were 45 for one in 16 overs.

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