Dhaka Metro score 257 as Ashraful hits ton against Ctg Div in NCL

The Tigers former captain Mohammad Ashraful spurred Dhaka Metro 1st innings with a century of 104 runs against Chittagong Division on day one in a Tier -2 match of the four-day Walton 19th National Cricket League (NCL) at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Friday, reports UNB.

Dhaka Metro opted to bat first after winning the toss and scored 257/5 in 90 overs, at stumps, in the first innings where Mehrab Hossain Jr and Sharif Ullah were on batting with 65 and 6 runs respectively.

Besides their individual shows, Ashraful and Mehrab shared a partnership of 174 runs in 27.2 overs in the 5th stand to carry the team collection to 248/5 in 84.1 overs, before Ashraful was caught behind by Sabbir off Mehedi Hasan Rana.

Ashraful, who is appearing in the list A cricket for the 2nd time since he had been partially cleared from the ban on professional cricket on August 13 in 2016, faced 194 balls to fire 12 boundaries and two over boundaries on the day.

Mehrab hammered six boundaries and one over boundary off 265 balls on his way to unbeaten half century while Saykat Ali (38 off 60b; 8x4), Asif Ahmed (18 off 49b; 3x4) and skipper Marshal Ayub (11 off 32b) were the other double-digit scorers for the side.

Mehedi Hasan Rana and Shakhawat Hossain captured two wickets each for 47 and 57 runs respectively while Nayeem Hasan took one for 58 runs for Ctg Division.

In another Tier-2 match which was delayed due to rain at Shaheed Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi, Sylhet Division collected 112/7 in 56 overs at stumps in the first innings after the first day's play after they were asked to bat first.

Anwar Akbar (6*) and Enamul Haque Jr (0*) at the crease when the bails were drawn for the day.
Skipper Imtiaz Hossain (38 off 90b; 2x4; 2x6), Shahanur Rahman (17), Alok Kapali (15), Sayem Alam (13) and Shanaj Ahmed (12) were the other double-figure scorers for the side.

Muktar Ali, Saqlain Sajib and Forhad Reza bagged two wickets each spending 12, 24 and 26 runs respectively for Rajshahi Division.