Dhaka – A brilliant century by national opener Souyma Sarkar went in vain as Agrani Bank Cricket Club relegated to the first division league from the Metropolis Premier Division Cricket conceding four-wicket defeat to Brothers Union Club in the last ball thriller of the last relegation league match at BKSP ground in Savar on Wednesday.
Replying to bankers’ mammoth total of 334 runs, Brothers Union Club needed nine runs in last over and lower order batsman Najmus Sadat scored the required run by hitting a boundary in last ball by Indian medium pacer Rishi Dhawan.
Soumya Sarkar hammered 154 runs off just 127 balls, featuring nine fours and eleven sixes to share a record of hitting eleven sixes with Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza in list A match and was adjudged man of the match despite his team conceded defeat.
With the day’s victory in a nerve shattering do-or-die match, Brothers Union Club escaped relegation to stay in the Premier Division Cricket League securing 12 points from 13 encounters while Agrani Bank fell victim of relegation along with Kalabagan KC (four points from 13 matches) collecting 10 points from 13 outings.
Sent into bat first, the bankers’ team piled up huge total of 334 for all in 49.1 overs featuring 171 runs in the 5th wicket stand by Soumya Sarkar and Indian Rishi Dhawan.
Apart from Soumya Sarkar’s ton, number six batsman Rishi Dhawan contributed an unbeaten 80 runs off just 65 balls hitting nine fours and one six, number five Dhiman Ghosh scored 40-ball 25 runs with three boundaries, opener Shahriar Nafees score 24 runs in 29-ball with four fours while one down Salman Hossain made 20-ball 23 runs, hitting four boundaries.
Shakawat Hossain and Suhrawardy Shuvo grabbed three wickets each conceding 43 and 48 runs respectively.
Chasing the tough target, the Gopibagh outfit Brothers Union Club scored the match-winner 335 runs for loss of six wickets in the last ball thriller.
Brothers Union made a good start scoring 121 runs in 13.1 overs in the opening stand by Junaid Siddique and Mizanur Rahman and added another 188 runs in the 3rd wicket stand by Mysukur Rahman and DB Das.
National coloured opening batsman Junaid Siddique hammered 77-ball 83 runs featuring eight fours and two sixes, one down Mysukur Rahman scored 95-ball 82 runs hitting five fours and one six, number four DB Das contributed 62-ball 73 runs hitting six fours and three sixes while opener Mizanur Rahman quick-fired 45-ball 62 runs with nine fours and two sixes.
Indian Rishi Dhawan, who scored not out 80 runs, also displayed his brilliance in bowling by grabbing three wickets for 71 runs while Islamul Ahsan Abdur Razzak and Shafiul Islam took one wicket each conceding 35, 50 and 71 runs respectively.UNB
