Afif takes Abahani to 8 straight wins

Abahani Limited continued on their winning streak as Afif Hossain’s unbeaten 80 runs guided them past third-placed Legends of Rupganj by five wickets in their Dhaka Premier League match at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Narayanganj to keep their hundred percent win record for the season still intact.

Abahani now top the league as they have taken all 16 points available from their eight matches. Second-placed Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club trail them by 2 points. This win has also confirmed Abahani’s place in the

Super 6 stage.

In their match against Abahani, Legends of Rupganj opted to bat first winning the toss.

Rupganj were on their way to a small total despite Chirag Jani’s 54 and Sabbir Rahman’ 48 but late cameos from Sohag Gazi (48 runs off 20 balls) and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (28 off 15 balls) took them to 286-9.

With the ball, Abahani’s Danish Aziz took four wickets, Mohammad Saif Uddin took two wickets while Tanvir Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib,

and Rakibul Hasan took one each.

Coming to chase Legends of Rupganj’s 286, Abahani reached the target in the penultimate over with 5 wickets and four balls to spare depending on Afif’s unbeaten 80 and Naim Sheikh’s 78.

Afif hit six fours and four sixes in his innings as he stayed unbeaten playing 62 balls and was named Player of the Match for his match-winning knock.

Wicketkeeper-batter Jaker Ali scored 31 while skipper Mosaddek Hossain and Anamul Haque scored 28 each.

For Legends of Rupganj, Rajibul Islam and Abdul Halim took two wickets each while skipper Mashrafe Mortaza took the wicket of Naim.