The most in-form teams in the Dhaka Premier League are
Abahani Limited and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club. Sitting atop the table as the
top two teams, the clash between these two is the clash of titans. After
winning the toss and electing to bat first, Abahani started with a stutter.
Indeed, opener Saif Hassan couldn’t come up with an
inspirational performance as he got out for 8 runs. Sohag Gazi took his wicket.
Nazmul Hossain Shanto came in next and didn’t trouble the scorers much for his
1 run.
Captain Nasir Hossain was the next to go after getting a start,
making 11 runs from 23 balls before Elias Sunny outfoxed him. Mohammed Mithun
also departed soon after making 14 from 28 balls. Anamul Haque Bijoy,
meanwhile, gave his team a fine innings as he has made his first century in
this year’s DPL.
After scoring 116 runs, batting brilliantly all the while,
he got out to Robiul Haque. His dismissal has perhaps opened up the floodgates
as Mosaddek got out next for 49 runs, who was soon followed by Mashrafe Mortaza
after he made 6 runs.
At that time, it looked like Abahani wouldn’t be able to get
a good score after all, but they did thanks to Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Sunzamul
Islam. While Miraz scored 34 from 18 balls, Sunzamul scored 24 from 15 to take
the score to 270 for 7 after 50 overs.
Robiul Haque took the most wickets for Sheikh Jamal, with
three scalps to his name, but also gave away 47 runs in the 5 overs that he
bowled. Jalaj Saxena, Elias Sunny, Sohag Gazi and Abu Jayed took a wicket each.
In response, Mashrafe Mortaza started off on a bad note as
he bled 11 runs in his first over. He, however, made a comeback in his third
over to get the wicket of Ziaur Rahman as he shattered his stump with a cunning
ball.
Shykat Ali then set the stage on fire with a quick-fire 31
from 23 balls, but was halted by Mashrafe Mortaza, who once again cleaned
another batsman’s stumps. Mashrafe now has two wickets as Sheikh Jamal are batting
at 35/2 after 8.3 overs.
