Najmul Hossain Shanto hit an uneaten hundred that fueled Abahani Limited to continue their winning streak in the Dhaka Premier League as the Sky-Blues scripted a five-wicket victory against their City Club counterpart in the last game of the league phase of the meet at BKSP-4 on Sunday.
With Shanto remaining undefeated on 102 off 112 balls and 39 runs coming from Mamudul Hasan Joy Abahani, Shanto cruised to the target of 174-5 in 35.1 overs in reply to 172 all-out.
The victory guided the former champions to hold the top spot in the points table, claiming 20 points from 11 games.
In the day’s other two games, defending champions Sheilk Jamal registered a thrashing eight-wicket win against the Legends of Rupganj, and with Nasir Hossain smacking an unbeaten 112 of 98 balls, Prime Bank Cricket Club beat Agrani Bank Cricket Club by six wickets at BKSP-3 and Sher-e-Bangla Nationals Cricket Stadium, respectively.
Although City Club induced a steady start, making 88-2 inside the 17th over, they failed to attach another hundred runs despite having eight wickets in hand.
Banking on opener Shahriar Kamaol’s 51-ball 79, City Club posted a humble 172 all-out in 39.2 overs.
Rishand Hossain was the standout bowler for Abahani, claiming 4-29.
With needing a slim 173, the table topper Abahani lost their opening pair, Momammad Naim and Anamul Haque Bijoy, for 7 inside the second over.
Asif Hasan removed Bijoy for 1, while Naim fell to Robiul Haque for a duck.
Then a 105-run stand between Shanto and Joy in the third wicket powered Abahani to move close to their tenth victory before the latter gave a catch to Asif Hasan by Robiul, leaving the side at 112-3.
The rest was done by the skipper Mosaddek Hossain and Rishad, who accompanied Shanto to bag his first ton of this year’s DPL, before they were finished with an 8-ball 11-ball, and a 14-ball 12, respectively to pull the side to the harbors of victory.
Legends of Rupganj were bowled out for 162 in 45.1 overs by Ak BKSP-3, led by Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.
Wicketkeeper batsman Irfan Sukkur made the highest score with 53, while other batsmen failed to go beyond 30.
Parvez Rasool was the most successful bowler for Sk. Jamal, scalping 3-29.
Hunting down an easy target, the titlist reached 168-2 in 28.1 overs with their openers Saif Hasan and Robiul Islam scoring 78 off 81 balls and 58 off 61 balls, respectively.
The victory placed Sk. Jamal in the second position of the table with the similar 20 points as Abahani from the same number of games due to a poor run rate, followed by Rupganj at 3 with 16 points from 11 games in the league phase.
At the SBNCS, Agrani Bank amassed 273-4 thanks to 62, 58, and 53 runs from Shadman Islam, Jahurul Islam, and Usman Khan, respectively.
Taijul Islam was the peak of the Prime Bank bowlers, taking 2-64.
Chasing down a competitive total, Prime Bank reached the victory of 277-4 in 46.4 overs thanks to an unbeaten 112 from Nasir Hossain and 53, along with a 50 from Mushfiqur Rahim and Mohammad Mithun that placed them at four of the points table to confirm the Super League phase.
