Abahani Limited and Prime Bank Cricket Club maintained their terrific form in the ongoing Dhaka Premier League Division Cricket League 2023-24 as they beat Brothers Union and Rupganj Tigers Cricket Club respectively by an identical eight-wicket margin during their fourth round matches on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Shakib Al Hasan took three wickets in his first DPL appearance this season as Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club beat City Club by 40 runs at the BKSP-4 venue in the day’s other match.
Abahani VS Brothers
Sent into bat first in Fatullah, Brothers’ batsmen faced the wrath of Abahani’s left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam’s bowling as he claimed 5-7 in six overs while Al Fahad and Rakibul Hasan took two wickets each as they were bowled out for just 71 runs in 21.3 overs.
Mohammad Naim then made 30 runs while Afif Hossain remained not out on 23 as Abahani reached 72-2 in 12.3 overs to complete a dominating win over Brothers, who now have lost four consecutive matches in the tournament.
Prime Bank VS Rupganj Tigers
At the BKSP-3 venue, left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam Apu took 3-24 while Alok Kapali and Ashiqur Zaman claimed two wickets each as Prime Bank dismissed Rupganj Tigers for 132 runs in 31.1 overs after they elected to field first in a rain-reduced 34-over contest.
Shamsur Rahman made the highest 50 off 46 balls for Rupganj Tigers.
Chasing a below-par target, Prime Bank got off to a flying start after their skipper Tamim Iqbal and Parvez Hossain Emon put up a 118-run stand.
Birthday boy Tamim made 67 off 78 balls before he was dismissed by Abdulla Al Mamun while Parvez scored 50 off 75 balls as Prime Bank reached 133-2 in 29.2 overs to complete their fourth win in a row.
In contrast, it was Rupganj Tigers’ fourth consecutive defeat in the tournament.
Sheikh Jamal VS City Club   
Although Shakib failed to make a big impact with the bat as he made only 19 runs during Sheikh Jamal’s innings of 218-5, the left-arm spinner claimed 3-39 in his allotted seven overs while Ripon Mondol also took three wickets as the current runners-up restricted City Club to 178-9 in their stipulated 34 overs.
Earlier, skipper Nurul Hasan Sohan continued his brilliant form as he made an unbeaten 72 off 60 balls while Yasir Ali struck a blistering 78 off 57 balls to guide Sheikh Jamal to a challenging total after they were sent into bat first.
The pair of Nurul and Yasir came in the middle after Sheikh Jamal were reduced to 79-4 and they shared a 138-run stand for the fifth wicket to put up a decent total on board against City Club, who remained winless after round four.