DPL's exciting run continues

The Dhaka Premier League continued its exciting run yesterday as the fifth round began with a couple of upsets and some noteworthy individual performances. Victoria Sporting Club snapped Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club's winning streak, Abahani surrendered to Legends of Rupganj and Brothers Union beat Prime Bank Cricket Club in a rain-interrupted match.

 In terms of individual performances Mominul Haque's run-a-ball hundred hogged the spotlight as the left-hander's effort, which was followed by left-arm spinner Chaturanga de Silva's five-wicket haul, ended Prime Doleshwar's unbeaten run at Fatullah.

But for the national team management and selectors the most pleasing aspect was that Soumya Sarkar finally got back among the runs to help Rupganj secure a win at Mirpur. Selector Minhajul Abedin, who watched Soumya's 89-ball 84, however said that the left-hander must take the confidence from this innings to play a few more big knocks to get his rhythm back. “Soumya's off form was a big headache for us. It was nice to see he got back among the runs. He initially struggled and got a life but later looked good. Now he has to cash on it. It's more of a mental problem than technical. One innings may not be enough to reach a conclusion but Soumya can take the confidence from here to overcome the mental block,” said Minhajul.

It was also a good day for the national discards, as most of them posted big scores. Former national opener Shahriar Nafees hit an unbeaten 84 that helped Brothers win courtesy of the Duckworth-Lewis method after rain stopped Brothers' chase.

Another former national player, Rakibul Hasan scored 73, but his effort was not good enough to cancel out Mominul's stroke-filled hundred and Abdul Mazid's 94.

Runs also came from the bat of two young batsmen: Nazmul Hossain Shanto (72) and Mosaddek Hossain (67). Their knocks helped their team Abahani put up 255 runs on board after their skipper Tamim Iqbal scored 54. But Mohammad Mithun's 75 and Soumya's innings helped them ease to their target.

In terms of bowling effort, Sri Lankan Chaturanga de Silva stood out as the best bowler of the day as he managed a match-winning figure of 5 for 36 in 7.4 overs for Victoria. Prime Doleshwar paceman Al-Amin Hossain also showed character under scorching heat by taking three wickets.

SCORES IN BRIEF 
VICTORIA SPORTING CLUB: 270 for 3 (Mominul 104, Abdul 94, Al-Amin Hossain 3-57) 
PRIME DOLESHWAR SPORTING CLUB: 211 all out in 43.4 overs (Rakibul 73, Imtiaz 43; De Silva 5-36, Kamrul 2-41, Al-Amin 2-31)
Result: Victoria won by 59 runs.
ABAHANI LIMITED: 255 for 6 (Nazmul 72, Abu Hider 3-48) 
LEGENDS OF RUPGANJ: 245 for 5 (Soumya 84, Mithun 75; Saqlain 2-34)
Result: Rupganj won by 21 runs (D/L method)
PRIME BANK CRICKET CLUB: 249 in 49.3 overs (Shehan 63, Shanaj 42, Nur Alam 3-25) 
BROTHERS UNION: 193 for 3 (Shahriar Nafees 84 not out, Tushar 41, Zakir 35; Shehan Jayasuriya 2-25)
Result: Brothers Union won by 7 runs (D/L method)