Fatullah witnesses thrilling stalemate

A resolute ninth-wicket stand between Iftekhar Ahmed and Arif Sajjad eked out a dramatic draw for Chittagong from the jaws of defeat against Sylhet in the Tier 2 National Cricket League match yesterday.

The pair plodded away the Sylhet attack for 32 minutes under fading lights at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah and added just eight runs in a mind-boggling 11.2 overs before Arif was bowled by left-arm spinner Rajatul Ferdous -- Sylhet's most successful bowler with five for 48. But the dismissal drew the curtains on an exciting end after the umpires called it a day due to bad light, leaving Sylhet granting after that near miss.

Earlier Sylhet, resuming the fourth and final day at 74 for two, raced to 243 for five before declaring their second innings with a massive lead of 372 runs. Overnight batsman Zakir Hossain hit a fluent 86 off 104 balls with eight fours and a six while first-innings centurion Alok Kapali hit a brisk 58 off 31 balls that contained four sixes.

Chittagong wobbled in their chase, losing wickets at regular intervals and were staring at defeat when they lost their eighth wicket at 138 in 46.1 overs. Sylhet won nine points while Chittagong grabbed seven from the drawn encounter.

The other three games also ended in draws with the two Tier 1 games involving Dhaka against Barisal and Khulna against Dhaka Metro being washed out without a ball being bowled for a second successive day at the Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium and its Academy ground in Cox's Bazar.

At the BKSP in Savar, Rangpur had some much-needed batting practice against Rajshahi with their opening pair of Saymon Ahmed (95) and Jahid putting on 135 runs in a second innings total of 233 for seven. Rajshahi however got 8 points against Rangpur's 6 by virtue of having a first-innings lead courtesy of a fine century from former national opener Junaid Siddiqui.

SCORES IN BRIEF

SYLHET: 444 all out in 139.2 overs and 234-5 dec (Zakir 86, Kapali 58) v CHITTAGONG: 315 and 146-9 in 57.3 overs (Saeed 68, Yasir 23; Rahatul Ferdous 5-48)

Result: Match drawn

DHAKA: 523 all out in 132 overs (Taibur 147, Majed 96, Rony 84, Nadif 75, Zahiduzzaman 57; Monir 5-152) v BARISAL: 103 for 1 (Fazle 55 not out, Nafees 40 not out; Sharif 1-20)

Result: Match drawn

KHULNA: 293 all out in 104.4 overs (Nurul 103 not out, Razzak 45; Sunny 3-113, Shahidul 2-23) v DHAKA METRO: 59 for no loss

Result: Match drawn 

RANGPUR: 234 and 233-7 dec in 79 overs (Saymon 94, Jahid 54; Sunjamul 4-106) v RAJSHAHI: 268 all out in 82.4 overs (Junaid 126, Sunjamul 40; Saddam 3-46, Ariful 3-49)

Result: Match drawn