The 4th round matches of the four-day Walton 16th National Cricket League (NCL) began on Monday at separate venues in the capital and adjoining areas, featuring four centuries on the first day.
Rajin Selah (not out 118) and Alok Kapali (not out 118) of Sylhet Division made tons against league leader Dhaka Division; Liton Das (175) of Rangpur Division scored century against Barisal Division while Marshall Ayub (not out 111) of Dhaka Metro made ton against Chittagong Division on Monday.
Sent into bat first, Sylhet Division, despite two centuries by former national cricketers Rajin Saleh and Alok Kapali, scored a moderate 291 for 3 in 90 overs in the first innings against Dhaka Division at stumps on the first day (Monday).
After the early departure of three top order batsmen-Sayem Alam (4), Imtiaz Hossain (31) and Rahatul Ferdous (5) — for 52 runs in 14.4 overs, Rajin Saleh and Alok Kapali contributed unbeaten 239 runs in the 4th wicket stand.
Former national vice-captain Rajin Saleh scored not out 118 runs off 237 balls with 12 fours and two sixes while all rounder Alok Kapali’s not out 118 came from 234 balls with 14 boundaries.
Shahadat Hossain claimed two wickets for 64 runs while Mosharraf Hossain took one wicket for 55 runs,
At BKSP ground-3 in Savar, an excellent 175 runs by opening batsman Liton Das guided Rangpur Division to 268 for 4 in 92 overs in the first innings against Barisal Division on the first day of the four-day affair on Monday.
Liton’s 232-ball innings featured 24 fours and four sixes.
Besides, Naeem Islam (not out 32), Tanveer Haider (23), Dhiman Ghosh (16) and Mahmudul Hasan (12) were the other notable scorers for Rangpur.
Nasum Ahmed grabbed two wickets for 85 runs while Sohag Gazi and Saleh Ahmed took one wicket each.
At BKSP ground-2 in Savar, Dhaka Metropolis team batted first to score 290 for 6 in 91 overs in the first innings on the first day against Chittagong Division with two down Marshall Ayub contributing a polished 111 runs off 169 balls that featured 14 fours.
Besides, Shadman Islam (51), Mehedi Maruf (38), Elias Sunny (35) and Saikat Ali (34) were the other contributors for Dhaka Metro.
Noor Hossain picked up five wickets for 80 runs while Mohammad Saifuddin took one wicket for 14 runs.
Sent into bat first, Khulna Division scored 256 for 5 in 95 overs in the first innings on the first day against Rajshahi Division at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Monday.
Former national cricketer Tushar Imran (not out 63), Mehedy Hasan (51), Amit Majumder (45), Mohammad Mithun (37), Imrul Kayes (23) and Ziaur Rahman (not out 21) were the main scorers for Khulna Division.
Farhad Hossain and Saqlain Sajib bagged two wickets each conceding 39 and 55 runs respectively.
After the third round matches of the league, all-win Dhaka Division secured 75 points, followed by Rangpur Division with 56 points having two wins and a draw.
Khulna Division slipped to the third position from their previous second place bagging 52 points with two wins and one loss while Rajshahi Division followed with 40 points with one win, one loss and a draw.
