BCL 4th round matches end in draw

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) North Zone maintained the top spot in the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) after a draw against bottom-run Walton Central Zone on day four in the 4th round match at Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogura on Friday, reports UNB.

Islami Bank East Zone also maintained their previous second spot in the table playing out a draw against Prime Bank South Zone in another 4th round game which also ended on day four at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Friday.

After their 4th round campaign, BCB North Zone collected 41 points from four matches with one win and three draws followed by IB East Zone aggregating 39 points with four successive draws.

The 3rd slot holder Prime Bank South Zone also recorded draws in all four encounters to collect 38 points while Walton Central Zone collected 29 points with three draws and one loss in the four-team first class cricket league.

Replying to Walton Central Zone's 1st innings total of 529/10 174.1 overs, BCB North Zone resumed the 1st innings on day four with overnight score of 286 for 7 in 86 overs and ended on 300/10 in 93.1 overs to follow on.

Overnight centurion Mushfiqur Rahim ended with 111 off 221balls, including eight boundaries and one six, while another overnight batsman Taijul Islam added 25 runs in the 1st innings for North Zone.

Ariful Haque (4/79) was the most successful bowler in the innings while Shoriful Islam (2/96) and Sunzamul Islam (2/127) equally shared four wickets.

Following on, BCB North Zone opened the 2nd innings and scored 213/2 in 65.2 overs to see the match in draw.

Mizanur Rahman played an unbeaten innings of 100* off 191 balls, including four boundaries and one six, while Nazmul Hossain Shanto hit 89 off 152 balls with eight boundaries.

Mizanur and Shanto shared a partnership of 154 off 48.2 overs in the 2nd wicket stand to carry the team collection to 158/2 in 51.3 overs from 4/1 in 3.1 overs.

Mohammad Sharif (1/9) and Saif Hassan (1/17) shared two wickets in the innings on the day for Walton Central Zone.

Marshall Ayub who hit a century of 132 off 210 balls with 14 boundaries and one six in the Walton Central Zone's 1st innings was adjudged man of the match.

Tushar Imran continued his brilliance performance as he scored back-to-back century in the match.

After his 130 in the first innings, he made 103 off 145 balls with 12 boundaries and two sixes before retiring hurt. Mohammad Mithun (66 off 92b; 5x4; 3x6) was another big hitter on day four while another overnight batsman Soumya Sarkar was out for 35 runs.

Khaled Ahmed (4/84), Mohammad Saifuddin (2/67) and Abu Jayed (2/90) were the wickets takers for Islami Bank East Zone.

Having 300 runs in the 1st innings, Islami Bank East Zone opened the 2nd innings on the day and scored 224/1 in 45 overs before the bails were drawn for the final day.

Wicketkeeper batsman Liton Kumar Das (113* off 129b; 11x4; 4x6) and Afif Hossain (100* off 131b; 10x4; 3x6) played for their unbeaten centuries and to share an inning of 205 off 43.2 overs to reach their innings final collection from 19/1 in 2.4 overs.

Kamrul Islam Rabbi (1/32) was the only wicket taker for Prime Bank South Zone.

Tushar Imran was adjudged man of the match.