Former Champions Legends of Rupganj registered their fourth victory in the ongoing Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League (DPL), beating Gazi Group Cricketers by six wickets at Bangladesh Krira Shikha Protisthan (BKSP) Ground No. 3 on Thursday.
Legends of Rupganj secured eight points from four outings, while it was the first defeat for the Gazi Group Cricketers. They earned six points from the same number of encounters.
Put into bat first, Gazi Group Cricketers piled up 136 before being all out in 35.4 overs, with opener right-hand batter Anisul Islam Emon hammering the highest 41 off 36 balls with six fours.
Skipper Mehedi Hasan Maruf added 18 runs for the losing side. Five batters could not reach double figures during the innings.
Rupganj pacer and former national team captain Mashrafe Mortaza scalped five wickets, conceding only 19 runs, as he was adjudged man-of-the-match.
Wicket-Keeper cum batter Pritom Kumar of Gazi Group was the first victim of Mashrafe. He scored 14 runs off 29 deliveries with two fours.
The right-hand pacer took four more wickets. Sabbir Hossain, Foysal Ahmed, Moin Khan, and Mahfuzur Rahman Rabbi—these four batters returned home within a short time. They scored 6, 0, 1, and 6 runs respectively. At one stage, Gazi Group cricketers were 105 for seven.
Chasing the victory target of 137, the Legends of Rupganj reached home, losing only four wickets in 28 overs. Nihaduzzaman and Tawfique Khan scored 44 runs off 71 balls in their first-inning partnership. Nihaduzzaman was caught at the deep mid-wicket by Sabbir Hossain, bowled by right-arm offbreak bowler Sheikh Parvez Jibon. One-down batter Rizwan Chowdhury was the top scorer for Rupganj; his unbeaten 47 runs came from 44 balls with three fours and as many sixes.
Tawfique Khan runs off 33 balls with one four and four sixes. Middle-order batter Shamim Hossain managed 26 runs off 16 deliveries with four fours and one six.