Mahmudullah XI beat Najmul XI by 7 wickets to clinch the BCB President’s Cup trophy at the at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Sunday. Mahmudullah XI bowler Sumon Khan paved the way for team’s victory as his five-wicket haul tumbled down Najmul XI at 173. Later, Liton Das’ 68-run knock guided his team towards an easy victory.
Liton’s 69-ball 68 included 10 fours. Imrul Kayes also played a fascinating knock of 55-ball 53. His innings was laced with 1 four and 6 maximums.
Earlier, Najmul XI batsmen had no answer to the 20-year-old youngster Sumon’s fiery pace bowling. He scalped five wickets by giving away a mere 38 runs in his 10-over spell. Najmul XI, who qualified for the final by being on top of the table after group stage, struggled to build any kind of resistance. National team pacer and in form bowler of the tournament Rubel Hossain bagged two wickets while Mehedi Hasan Miraz, skipper Mahmudullah Riyad and Ebadot Hossain grabbed one wicket each.
After winning the toss Mahmudullah XI sent Najmul XI to bat first. Najmul XI were left in a spot of bother as they lost quick wickets. After 14.2 overs, their score was 45/3. Rubel Hossain struck first to remove opener Saif Hassan. Then inform batsman and one of the top scorers of the tournament Mushfiqur Rahim returned to the pavilion as well.
He was Sumon’s first prey. Opener Soumya Sarkar failed yet again. Soumya scored 5 before getting out. The tournament’s top two scorers Mushfiqur Rahim and Afif Hossain failed to get going. Mushfiqur scored 12 while Afif was removed for 0. Sumon dismissed both of them.
Then, Najmul XI's middle-order batsman Irfan Shukkur played a lone hand, as he scored 75 off 77 deliveries to propel his team to 173. His knock was laced with 8 fours and 2 maximums. Skipper Najmul scored 32 while Towhid Hridoy got 26 runs.
When skipper Najmul (32) and batsman Afif Hossain (0) returned to the pavilion, Najmul XI’s score was 64/5. Irfan Shukkur and Touhid Hridoy then handled the pressure well as they built an alliance of 70 runs for the sixth wicket stand. The pair’s partnership broke up when Hridoy returned to the pavilion after scoring 26 runs.
Skipper Mahmudullah broke the partnership. However, Irfan fought at the other end and picked up a half-century. He kept the scoreboard ticking. Shukkur scored 75 runs before being dismissed. However, his efforts went in vain as no other batsmen could follow suit. In the end, Najmul XI were all out for 173 runs in 47.1 overs.
