Rangpur Division beat Sylhet Division by five wickets in the sixth round of the National Cricket League in Bogura to clinched the title of the 24th edition of the event.
It was the second NCL title for Rangpur. They last won the title seven years ago in the 2014-2015 season. Rangpur ended their previous four editions of the league as runners-up.
Rangpur just needed to score 89 runs to beat Sylhet in the sixth round of the event and clinch the title. They did it in the first session of the day.
The sixth-round match was a great chance for Sylhet to win their first title while a draw was fine for Rangpur.
In the first round of the league, Rangpur suffered a big defeat to Dhaka Division. But in the next five rounds, they registered four wins and ended a match with a draw.
Pace-bowling duo Mushfik Hasan and Robiul Haque were the main architects of Rangpur’s success in this year’s NCL. They bagged 25 and 17 wickets each. Abdullah Al Mamun also did well for them. The 18-year-old all-rounder scored 326 runs with a double-century and bagged 11 wickets.
Chasing a target of 89 runs, Rangpur lost four wickets before even posting 50 runs on the board. Sylhet pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib bagged three wickets. But Mim Mosaddek stood firm like a rock in the middle for Rangpur and scored 29 to seal the victory for his team.
The other sixth-round match of NCL tier one between Chattogram and Dhaka Division is still underway. Dhaka need 87 runs to win the match with five wickets in hand.
In tier two, Khulna beat Rajshahi by nine wickets. The other tier two match between Barishal and Dhaka Metro is still underway and Dhaka Metro need 36 to win the match with seven wickets in hand.
Brief score of Rangpur vs Sylhet match
Sylhet (first innings): 107 for 10 (Tawfique 16, Zakir 16, Jaker 14); Sohel 3/21, Mushfik 2/27, Robiul 2/36)
Rangpur (first innings): 188 for 10 (Nasir 41, Mosaddek 38, Ariful 13); Ebadot 5/38, Rejaur 4/37
Sylhet (second innings): 168 for 10 (Tawfiq 36, Nasum 33, Zakir 20); Abdullah 4/40, Sohel 2/26)
Rangpur (second innings): 89 for 5 (Mosaddek 29, Rishad 20, Akbar 18); Tanzim 3/24, Ebadot 1/7
Result: Rangpur won by five wickets
Source: United News of Bangladesh