Mohammedan swabbed Uttara Sporting Club

Despite loosing their opener pretty early Mohammedan Sporting Club secured an easy 6-wicket victory over Uttara club In GrameenPhone Premier Division League today held in Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium. Habibul Bashar, recognized as the best batsman of the country, top scored 53 and their foreign recruit Steve Tikolo slammed a quick fire 41 while Mohammedan were chasing Uttara's ordinary target of 159.

Minhajul Abedin, winning the toss and perhaps thinking of the formidable bowling attack they have, sent Uttara sporting to bat first. Taposh Kumar and Shafiuddin Ahmed, the new ball operators for the renowned Motijhil Club, mopped up the front line batsmen within seven overs. Uttara spinner Faisal Hossain (36) and Emtear Rahman (19) were then forced to a period of consolidation. Wicket keeper Rashed-Bin-Rana propelled the scoreboard managing 45 playing 78 balls that included 3 boundaries.

Taposh Kumar, the lanky fast medium bowler from Sylhet, seized 3 for 37. Spinner duo Mohammed Rafique and Shabbir Khan bamboozled the Uttara side claiming two wickets each.

A target of 159 was not at all a daunting task for a club like Mohammedan who possess a brawny batting line-up, but they lost Rashedul Haque for naught with the score on naught, as the batsman failed to fend off the second ball off seamer Golam Rabbani in the opening over their innings. Habibul Bashar joined in and put up a 62-run stand with Ehsanul Haque. The latter chipped in with 10 runs off 37 deliveries before pacer Sumon Barua finally removed him.

Mohammedan's Kenyan recruit Steve Tikolo, a familiar face in Dhaka, who played the Premier League for the club for the last few years regularly, ran his streak of success in this match as well. His gutsy and gusty 41 off just 42 balls eased off the pressure a lot. Tikolo found six sparkling boundaries all around his stumps.

The rest of the match was kept for the crowd at DCS only to watch two most stylish batsmen Habibul Bashar and Minhajul Abedin in flair. Arman Hossain got rid of Bashar at the hands of Faisal before the ace batsman notched up 53 off 80 deliveries featured with 8 spectacular fours.

Mohammedan reached the target in 31.4 overs with Minhajul batting on 20 and Sanwar Hossain 12. Taposh Kumar was rightly adjudged for the man-of-the-match for his contribution with the ball.