Khulna Division crushed Barisal Division by 10 wickets at the BKSP-3 ground to bring up the first result in Tier-1 of the 2016-17 National Cricket League. After Tushar Imran hit a record 19th hundred, debutant seamer Ashiquzzaman skittled out Barisal with a match haul of nine wickets.
Barisal were bowled out for 171 runs in 60.4 overs in the first innings, with pacers Ziaur Rahman and Ashiquzzaman taking three wickets each. Fazle Mahmud's 95 represented more than half of Barisal's total. In reply, Khulna took a lead of exactly 200 runs, courtesy Imran, who went past Alok Kapali and Mohammad Ashraful to possess the most first-class hundreds by a Bangladeshi.
He made 108 with a dozen fours and a six, and shared a 117-run third wicket stand with Anamul Haque, who top-scored with 136, his 11th first-class ton. Anamul struck eleven fours and six sixes in his 202-ball knock. Left-arm spinner Monir Hossain took six wickets and later struck a 70-ball 72 as Barisal could only muster 211 runs in the second innings.
Ashiquzzaman took 6 for 57 to finish with nine wickets on first-class debut. His player-of-the-match winning efforts left Khulna with just 12 runs to chase on the third afternoon, which they completed in 1.4 overs.
Dhaka Division beat Dhaka Metropolis by five wickets in a low-scoring fixture in the other Tier-1 game in Fatullah. This was the first time in five years that no half-century was recorded in a first-class fixture in Bangladesh.
Batting first, Dhaka Metro were bowled out for 166 runs with veteran paceman Mohammad Sharif taking four wickets. In reply, Dhaka could manage just a 21-run lead as Mohammad Ashraful starred with his part-time offspin to take three wickets alongside seamer Shahidul Islam.
Dhaka Metro, handed a lifeline, had an opportunity to pull away with a better batting effort in the second dig. But that wasn't to be as Sharif picked up three wickets; Dhaka metro hurtled to 125 all out in 55.5 overs.
Dhaka nearly made heavy weather of their 105-run target. They slipped to 63 for 5, thereby raising possibility of an unlikely win for Metro. But Taibur and Zahiduzzaman put on an unbroken 43-run stand for the sixth wicket to complete a nervy win.
