Abahani secured the Dhaka Premier League title with two matches in hand. They beat Sheikh Jamal by 4 wickets on Tuesday and took home the title of the 2023-24 season of the league. Shakib-Sohan’s Sheikh Jamal batted first and set a target of 268 runs. In reply, Abahani secured 23rd title by losing 6 wickets with 1 ball in hand. The hero of Abahani’s victory is Afif Hossain who was flown from Chittagong. He played an innings of 83 runs.
Abahani formed the team with most of the national team cricketers. But for the Zimbabwe series, 10 Abahani cricketers have to go to Chittagong. As a result, the team was in a difficult situation with the formation of the XI. Afif Hossain, Tanveer Islam and Tanjim Hasan Shakib were released for this match due to Abahani’s appeal. Although Tanveer, who flew in from Chittagong, could not make such an impact, Afif and Junior Shakib contributed significantly to the team’s victory.
Meanwhile, Shakib Al Hasan was playing Dhaka League for Sheikh Jamal before the Chittagong Test against Sri Lanka. He went to the United States after playing a Test against the Lankans in Chittagong. From there, he returned home on Monday afternoon and entered the field again on Tuesday. However, he will not be seen in the first three matches against Zimbabwe in Chittagong. He is likely to play the next two matches. Before the series, he started well with the bat on Tuesday but could not make the innings bigger. He got out for 49 runs. In the end, Sheikh Jamal collected 267 runs after losing 9 wickets with 85 runs from Ziaur Rahman’s stormy 58 balls.
In response to 268 runs, Abahani was on the way to an easy victory. From there, the tension spread in the last two overs. Abahani needed 20 runs in the last two overs to win. Abahani lost a wicket for 11 runs in the 19th over. As a result 9 runs are required in the last over. Mosaddek Hossain and Rakibul Hasan played coolly and confirmed the victory 1 ball earlier.
However, Abahani was under pressure after losing opener Sabbir Hossain in the beginning. Naeem Sheikh and Enamul Haque Vijay made a partnership of 50 runs for the second wicket. Afif Hossain came to the crease when Naeem got out for 21 runs. He came from Chittagong last night and played a great innings this morning. He made a pair of 103 runs with Enamul for the fourth wicket. Enamul got out after scoring 67 runs off 80 balls, but Afif made another pair with Mosaddek again. The duo added another 50 runs to the scoreboard. Afif got out 17 runs short of the century. This batsman made his innings of 83 runs in 88 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes. On the other hand, Mosaddek played the innings as the captain and left the field to ensure the victory of the team. Played an innings of 53 runs off 54 balls.
Among Sheikh Jamal’s bowlers, Shafiqul Islam took two wickets and Shakib, Saif, Taibur and Ripon took one wicket each.
Earlier, Sheikh Jamal lost the toss and batted. The team lost the top order by 15 runs by three wickets. Then Shakib came to the crease. He made an important partnership of 72 runs with Saikat Ali for the fourth wicket. By scoring 41 runs off 66 balls, Saikat broke them. After 23 more runs were added to the scoreboard, Shakib, who was playing well, also returned to the dressing room. Before that, he played an innings of 49 runs in 56 balls with 2 fours and a six. Then Sheikh Jamal fell into disaster again when Nurul Hasan was run out in a personal 41 runs. The team quickly lost several wickets and was in danger of being all out below two hundred runs.
However, the way Sheikh Jamal’s Ziaur Rahman ran riot, Sheikh Jamal overcame the disaster and took the team’s score to 267 runs. He played a brilliant innings of 85 runs before being dismissed by Rakibul’s spin two balls before the last over. His innings was arranged in 58 balls with 6 fours and a six.
Among Abahani’s bowlers, junior Shakib, who was flown in from Chittagong, bowled well. He lost three wickets despite spending 61 runs. On the other hand, Bahati spinner Rakibul took three wickets for 29 runs. Besides, Nahidul’s victim is two wickets.
#Champion #Abahani #matches #hand