East Zone clinch thriller in BCL

Islami Bank East Zone clinched a nerve-wracking win in their second match of the ninth edition of the Bangladesh Cricket League as they beat Walton Central Zone by 10 runs at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

Off-spinner Nayeem Hasan was the hero of the hour for East Zone as he picked up six wickets to dismantle the Central Zone batting.

In the other match of the round, BCB South Zone drew with BCB North Zone at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.

Chasing 199 against East Zone, Central Zone were on their way to victory at the end of the third day as they were only 112 runs away with nine wickets in hand.

The two unbeaten batsmen, Mohammad Mithun and Soumya Sarkar started the final day of the match well as they took their partnership to three figures and both of them reached their fifties.

Their 125-run stand took Central Zone to 145-1, only 54 runs away from victory. But then, they just fell apart.

Nayeem struck in consecutive overs to send back both Mithun (60) and Soumya (73), before getting rid of Taibur Rahman (4) in his next.

Tanvir Islam provided Nayeem with a helping hand as from nowhere, Central Zone were reduced to 169-8.

Salman Hossain Emon tried to inch towards the victory, but Nayeem got him out on 18 and then Tanvir dismissed Robiul Haque to clinch a 10-run win for Central Zone.

In the other match at Chattogram, the draw was an expected result as not even two innings were complete by the end of the third day.

The final day saw a landmark for BCB South Zone’s youngster Towhid Hridoy, who converted his maiden first-class century into a double before getting out on 217, an innings where he hit 16 fours and four sixes.

South Zone were bowled out for 499 and in their second innings, North Zone managed 62 for the loss of one wicket before the match ended in a draw.