Central Zone complete double

Walton Central Zone completed the double as they beat BCB South Zone by six wickets in the final of the Independence Cup, the one-day version of the Bangladesh Cricket League, at Sylhet on Saturday.

Earlier, Central Zone had beaten South Zone in the final of the longer-version of the BCL in the final to claim the trophy.

Even without Shakib Al Hasan, Central Zone swept past South Zone with both bat and ball. Batting first, South Zone were bowled out for 163, and with a fifty from Al Amin Jr, Central Zone chased it down with six wickets and 45 balls in hand.

Winning the toss, Central Zone skipper Mosaddek Hossain invited South Zone to bat first. They started well with a 51-run opening stand between Anamul Haque (20) and Pinak Ghosh (35), but once Nazmul Islam Apu sent Anamul back, they crumbled like a house of cards.

Nahidul Islam showed some resistance at the end with 31, but the landslide of wickets meant they could only muster 163. Nazmul, Mosaddek, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Soumya Sarkar, and Hasan Murad picked two wickets each.

In reply, Soumya (21) and Mizanur Rahman (39) brought Central Zone a great start with a 65-run opening partnership. But they lost four wickets within six overs as Mohammad Mithun and Abdul Mazid were gone alongside the openers.

But from there on, skipper Mosaddek and Al Amin ensured that there were no hiccups. They put on an unbeaten 88-run partnership and guided their team to the title.