Mahmudullah XI clinch BCB President's Cup title

Mahmudullah XI clinched the hastily-arranged BCB President's Cup on Sunday, outclassing surprise finalists the Najmul XI by seven wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in the city, reports UNB.

Najmul XI were asked to bat first after losing the toss and posted a below par total of 173 runs riding on the wonderful innings of 75 runs off IrfaanShukkur. In reply, Liton Das (68), and ImrulKaeys (53) hit the fifties for Mahmudullah XI, and they won the title.

Mahmudullah XI ended up on 177 for three in 29.4 overs and won the game in a canter with seven wickets and more than 20 overs to spare. But this was an occasion where the bowlers deserve the credit for having done the hard work earlier, bowling the Najmul XI out for a paltry total of just 173 in 47.1 overs.

The wrecker in chief was 20-year-old Sumon Khan, who in partnership with the experienced Rubel rattled Najmul XI with the new ball, and ended up with 5/38 off his 10 overs.

Openers of Najmul XI- Saif Hassan and Soumya Sarkar- posted only 4 and 5 runs respectively. Rubel Hossain grabbed the first wicket removing Saif. Soumya, in the course of scoring just 5, already had to retire hurt once - although he did come back out to bat, only to be snared by a fired up Sumon.

Najmul Hossain Shanto (32) and Mushfiqur Rahim (12) tried to control the initial damage, but failed to come up with the bigger effort when Najmul XI were in dire straits.

Afif Hossain disappointed again as he failed to add anything to the board. He was hunted by Sumon as well. TowhidHridoy, who had come up with some imperious displays earlier, scored 26 this time.