Although some good cricket was played on the opening day of the Dhaka Premier League 2023 season however it was a rain-marred day as all three matches were curtailed.
Defending Champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club got a winning start against newly-promoted Dhaka Leopards, while Prime Bank Cricket Club beat City Club and Legends of Rupganj secured a win against Agrani Bank respectively.
Sk Jamal thrash Leopards
Defending Champions Sk Jamal thrashed beginner Dhaka Leopards by eight wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium as Towhid Hridoy claimed the player of the match award.
The match, cut down to 42 overs due to rain, saw Leopards bat first and get bowled out for 169. Pinak Ghosh top-scored for them with 41, while Moin Khan made 40.
Indian all-rounder Parvez Rasool and Bangladesh all-rounder Mrittunjoy Chowdhury starred with the ball as they both picked up three wickets each. Shafiqul Islam picked up a couple while Ziaur Rahman and Arif Ahmed took one each.
In reply, Sk Jamal openers Shykat Ali and Saif Hasan added 49 runs in nine overs where the latter did nothing much as he fell to Chathuranga De Silva for eight runs off 25 balls in the final ball of the ninth over.
Shykat then added 43 runs with Fazle Mahmud before departing for a well-made 63 off the bowling of Salauddin Shakil.
That brought Towhid Hridoy to the crease and the youngster, who played a couple of good knocks in his maiden Twenty20 International series just in the last week, played a blistering knock of 54 runs off just 30 balls, hitting seven fours and two sixes, to take Sk Jamal home.
Mahmud stayed unbeaten on 43.
Prime Bank beat City Club
Prime Bank Cricket Club managed a seven-run win over City Club at BKSP as Taijul Islam starred with both bat and ball.
This match was also curtailed to 42 overs.
Batting first, Prime Bank’s batters faltered as they were left on 150-6 at one point. However, an unbeaten 66-run partnership between veteran Alok Kapali and Taijul saw them post 216-6.
Kapali stayed unbeaten on 55 off 47 balls, while Taijul scored an unbeaten 31 off 28 balls.
For City Club, skipper Robiul Haque and Taufike Ahmed picked up two wickets each.
In reply, despite losing four wickets before reaching triple figures, were in the tie as Asif Ahmed Ratul hit a fifty. However, the batter’s dismissal in the final over saw them lose the match by seven runs.
Azim’s ton in vain
Agrani Bank’s Indian batter Azim Kazi hit the first ton of the ongoing DPL but it went in vain as Legends of Rupganj won the game by seven wickets on DLS.
Batting first, Azim’s ton propelled Agrani Bank to 243-8 in the 44-over match. Azim scored 102 off 105 balls, and was aided by Shadman Islam early, who scored 62. There was also a cameo in their innings as Abu Hider Rony scored 24 in just nine balls at the back end.
Chirag Jani picked up three wickets for Rupganj, with skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza picking up two.
In reply, Rupganj were well on track from the start as Munim Shahriar scored 43 off 37 balls and Sabbir Rahman missed out on a fifty by scoring 49.
They were being guided to the win by Irfan Sukkur and Chirag as the duo was on 77 and 29 respectively when bad light stopped play, with the team at 215-3, needing 28 off the last 31 balls.
That meant that Rupganj were awarded the victory via the DLS method as they were well ahead at that point.
