Emphatic Sheikh Jamal clinch maiden title
Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club recovered from a precarious start to beat Abahani Limited by four wickets and having done so, they confirmed their maiden title of Dhaka Premier League (DPL) on Tuesday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, reports BSS.
Knowing that a victory would help them clinch the maiden DPL title with a match to go, they didn't give up the hopes despite having a poor start. Rather they showed a spirited mentality, led by Nurul Hasan Sohan to fulfill their aspiration.
After this victory, they amassed 24 points from 14 matches while their close rivals Legends of Rupganj who also won their today's game against Gazi Group Cricketers by 196 runs, put up 20 points in the table from same number of matches.
It meant Jamal remained four points clear of Legends ahead of the final round which will be held on Friday. They will in fact take on Rupganj in the fifth round of Super League phase but the outcome of the match won't matter now as even if Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club loss the game, they will still ahead of two points by Rupganj.
With the day’s defeat, Abahani Limited, who were the defending champions and were trying to clinch their hat-trick title, now have lost three out of four matches in the Super League phase. The Dhanmondi outfit posted 229-6 after opting to bat first but Jamal showed a spirited performance to race to the victory with 232-6 in 47 overs.
Jamal's chances to clinch the title Monday looked slim when they were five down for 78 runs in 25 overs but Nurul Hasan Sohan played his most memorable knock in DPL to help the side cruise to the victory finally.
Sohan who gave the talismanic touch to finish off the game, remained not out on run-a-ball-81, hitting eight fours and two sixes.
After the top order batters failure including of Mushfiqur Rahim who made 16, Sohan put up two important partnerships to sail the side home. He firstly shared 72-run with Parvej Rasool who made 33 off 40.
After Najmul Hossain Shanto took the wicket of Rasool, Sohan and Ziaur Rahman put on 82-run in an undefeated seventh wickets partnership to help the side clinch the title. Ziaur Rahman was not out on 39 off 26 after clobbering four fours and two sixes.
Abahani's Saifuddin took 2-36 and was instrumental in wrecking top-order havoc of Jamal but it mattered little at the end.
For Abahani, Towhid Hridoy was the highest scorer with 53. Abahani also experienced a top-order collapse before Hridoy settled the things. Jaker Ali Anik and Saifuddin them shared 75-run in an undefeated seventh wicket stand to help Abahani propel past 200-run mark.
Jaker Ali was not out on 47 while Saifuddin hit 44 not out off 33 with five sixes. Ziaur Rahman grabbed 2-36 with his medium pace for Sheikh Jamal. Parvej Rasool, Saif Hassan, Sumon Khan and Sunzamul Islam took one wicket apiece.