Saif, Miraz shine on opening day

Mohammad Saif Uddin and Mehidy Hasan Miraz led the headlines on the opening day of the 10th Bangladesh Cricket League as they both picked up five wickets in the match between BCB North Zone and BCB South Zone, but it was ultimately Miraz’s South Zone that came out with a 72-run win.

In the other match of the day, Yasir Ali Rabbi shined as Islami Bank East Zone smashed Central Zone by 114 runs.

In the match between BCB South and BCB North, the latter won the toss and skipper Mahmudullah Riyad opted to field first.

While Mohammad Naim (54) and Towhid Hridoy (66) hit fifties, all their other batters failed to make an impact as they were bowled out for 199. Saif was the star of the show as he picked up five wickets for 30 runs, while Taskin Ahmed and Shafiqul Islam picked up two each.

But that low total proved to be enough to find the two points for BCB North as Miraz led the team from the front, picking up five wickets for 42 runs, including the key wickets of Mahmudullah and Fazle Mahmud.

Shykat Ali and Mahmud top-scored for BCB South with both scoring 26, while Nasum Ahmed picked up three wickets for North.

Miraz was adjudged player of the match for his match-winning five-wicket haul.

In the other match, East Zone were bowled out for 254 as Yasir played a great innings, scoring 80 runs off 73 balls, hitting four fours and five sixes. Mushfiqur Rahim scored 44.

Taijul Islam picked up four wickets for Central Zone, while Robiul Haque and Sumon Khan picked up two each.

In reply, Central Zone crumbled as nobody managed to make their starts count. Najmul Hossain Shanto top-scored with 38, while Abdul Mazid and Soumya Sarkar scored 27 and 19 each as they were bowled out for 140.

Ebadot Hossain picked up four wickets for East Zone, while Rejaur Rahman Raja and Shak Mahedi Hasan picked up three wickets each.