Veteran right-handed batter Naeem Islam hit a century in the 2nd round of the Bangladesh Cricket League’s one-day edition and guided his team to a 26-run victory on Tuesday at BKSP.
In the other match of the same round of the league, Fazle Mahmud Rabbi fell short of 10 runs from a ton and guided his team to a 61-run win.
Naeem is playing for BCB South Zone, who batted first on Tuesday against BCB Central Zone and posted 282 for five wickets.
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South Zone lost two wickets in just 12 runs as Anamul Haque Bijoy and Zakir Hasan failed to do well. But in the third wicket stand, they added 99 runs on the board thanks to Naeem, and Mohammad Naim, with the latter scoring 63. Naeem ended up scoring 102 for 106. Allrounder Nasir Hossain has also scored 75 off 87 balls.
For Central Zone, Robiul Haque bagged three wickets.
In reply, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat and Ali Jaker Anik scored fifty each, but that was not enough to avoid a defeat. Mehidy Hasan Miraz, the captain of South Zone, scalped three wickets, while Shoriful Islam took two.
In the other match, North Zone batted first against Islami Bank East Zone and scored 216 runs for eight wickets. Fazle Mahmud scored 90, and Mohammad Saifuddin scored 44.
For East Zone, Ashiqur Zaman, Mahadi Hasan, and Rahman Rejaur Raja took two wickets each.
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In reply, they tumbled for 155 for all wickets. Shamim Hossain bagged three wickets for North Zone, while Ripon Mondal and Shafiqul Islam took two wickets each.
South Zone are currently leading the points table with two wins in two matches. East Zone are right behind them, with one win in two matches. North Zone also have one win in two matches, but East Zone bettered them with a better run rate.
In this league, every team will face each other twice in the league phase. The top two teams of the league phase will take on each other in the final. The final will be played in Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium under the lights.