Rajshahi and Chittagong face each other in the fifth round of the National Cricket League at Zahoor Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong. The hosts took the lead by all out Rajshahi on the first day. Batting first, Rajshahi were all out for 112 runs. In reply, at the end of the first day, Chittagong's total was 173 for 8 wickets. They got a lead of 61 runs.
Chittagong won the toss and invited Rajshahi to bat. Rajshahi lost in the bowling of Farhad Hossain, the pacer of the team. The team at number 5 in the points table is out with a small capital. None of the team could play a responsible innings. The maximum 23 runs came from the bat of Golam Kibria. Tanjid Hasan Tamim (19) and Rahmatullah Ali (19) scored the second highest runs.
Among Chittagong bowlers, Farhad took five wickets for 31 runs. Besides, Ifran Hossain and Ashraful Hasan took two wickets each.
The host Chittagong also fell into a batting disaster after quickly all-out Rajshahi. Apart from the two openers Sadiqur Rahman and Parvez Hossain, no one could score a run. After the duo's 96-run partnership, great things were expected. But they lost 8 wickets to score 77 runs. Sadiqur's 54 and Parvez's innings came from the bat of 41 runs. Shamim Hossain Patwari is unbeaten on 19 and Ashraful Hasan on zero. Chittagong will start the day with 2 wickets in hand on Sunday.
Among Rajshahi's bowlers, Sabbir Hossain and YC Siddiqui took maximum three wickets each.
The strength of the bowlers was also seen in the match held at Khulna Abu Naser Stadium. Batting first, Dhaka Metro was all out for 130 runs. In that match too, Dhaka Metro fell into disaster after the pair of 53 runs by the two openers Naeem Sheikh and Mahfizul Rahman Robin. Maximum 31 runs came from Naeem's bat.
However, Sylhet did a great batting by quickly all-out Metro. At the end of the first day, they lost 2 wickets and collected 137 runs. Sylhet's two openers got out after a pair of 58 runs. Pinak Ghosh (16) and Taufiq Khan Tushar were out for 42 runs. In the rest of the time, however, no more wickets were taken. Mubin Ahmed Dishan (19) and Amit Hasan (51) are unbeaten. Sylhet will start the second day on Sunday with a lead of 7 runs.
