Bangladesh Biman and Surjo Tarun got off to a sound start in the Janakantha Premier Division Cricket League when they defeated their respective opponents in a convincing fashion at different venues yesterday.
With the whole nation coming to a grinding halt due to a dawn-to-dusk hartal, Biman were hardly troubled as they conjured up a five-wicket win over a lowly-rated Agrani Bank at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
The national airline outfit, resuming on 45 for no loss in reply to a modest Agrani Bank total of 174, reached the victory target in 72.1 overs, but not before losing half of their wickets.
National captain Aminul Islam, who joined Biman this year after ending a long stint with Mohammedan Sporting, celebrated his return to his former club with an unbeaten 44.
The right-hander held the innings together after overnight batsman Ziaur Rashid departed for a gritty 44 off 125 balls.
Ziaur Rashid, who opened the Biman innings with Javed Omar, added another 40 runs to their overnight total before being adjudged leg before to Russel.
The young left-arm spinner gave a sensational twist to the match when he had Biman captain Faruque for a first-ball duck. But Javed and Aminul took Biman close to victory putting on 43 runs for the third wicket. Javed scored a painstaking 38 off 165 balls.
Aminul hammered five fours in his 100-ball vigil at the crease.
Away at the BKSP ground in Savar, Ajax caved in meekly in their chase of Surjo Tarun's impressive total of 285. The mediocre outfit could muster only 146 before being bundled out in 63.4 overs, thanks to a virtuoso all-round performance from Enamul Haq.
The national slow left-armer, who hammered a breezy 45 on Saturday, mopped up the Ajax tail to finish with three for 13 runs in his 13 overs.
The highlight of the Ajax innings was a threatening 70-run partnership between opener Ronok and Nayan. But, it came to naught.
But once leg-spinner Al-Shahriar had Ronok for 28, Ajax suffered a sudden slide from where they never recovered.
Surjo Tarun's Pakistani recruit Nadim Nazar then destroyed the Ajax middle-order to finish with three for 21 runs in his 16 overs. He captured the prized scalp of Nayan, who scored 40 off 99 balls. Al-Shahriar got another wicket to finish with two for 31 in his four overs.
Result: Surjo Tarun won by 139 runs.