Legends of Rupganj suffered yet another defeat as Abahani strengthened their position at the top of the table. Meanwhile, Gazi Group Cricketers maintained their second spot by defeating Mohammedan. In Mirpur, Prime Bank secured a victory against Dhanmondi Club.
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto finally ended his long century drought after more than a year. On Tuesday, in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League match against Legends of Rupganj, Shanto scored 101 runs off 108 balls. His brilliant batting helped Abahani secure a comfortable victory.
Batting first after losing the toss at BKSP’s No. 3 ground, Rupganj posted 292 runs for 6 wickets. Chasing a target of 293, Abahani lost a wicket in the very first over as Parvez Hossain Emon was dismissed for a duck. However, Shanto and Zisan Alam built a crucial 107-run partnership. Their stand was broken when Zisan got out for 43 off 46 balls.
Later, Shanto and Mithun added 50 more runs before Mithun departed after scoring 34 off 37 balls. Shanto, however, reached his century in the 35th over but was dismissed on the very next ball by Sheikh Mehedi.
Najmul Hossain Shanto had last scored a century on March 13 last year, when he made 122 runs against Sri Lanka in Chattogram. After a long wait of 370 days, he finally reached the three-figure mark again in List A cricket.
Following Shanto’s dismissal, Mominul Haque remained unbeaten on 35 off 32 balls, while Mahfijur Rahman Rabbi contributed 31 off 25 balls. Their solid finishing helped Abahani chase down the target in 48.4 overs with 6 wickets in hand.
For Rupganj, Saif Hassan top-scored with 67 runs, while Mahmudul Hasan Joy made 58, Soumya Sarkar scored 27 off 31 balls, and Zakir Ali Anik added 35 off 35 balls.
With the ball, Sheikh Mehedi Hasan and Shariful Islam took 2 wickets each, while Saif Hassan and Afif Hossain Dhrubo claimed one wicket each.
