A century partnership between skipper Khaled Mahmud and Pakistan middle-order Amir Hanif helped runners-up Brothers Union reach a fighting total against new powerhouse Surjo Tarun in a crucial Janakantha Premier Cricket League clash began at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
The duo put on exactly 100 runs for the fourth wicket to see the Gopibagh outfit, who won the important toss and elected to bat, recovering well from an early collapse to score 266 before being all out in the 76th over.
Brothers were virtually put on the back foot in the first session when Ehsanul, Shahriar and Jahangir were out and middle-order Sanwar returned hurt on zero with a twisted left ankle. It was Amir Hanif and Mahmud who then put their gritty act together, and took only 20 overs to add the hundred runs; thereby doing good groundwork for their innings.
Surjo Tarun off-spinner Rafiqul, who returned with his career-best five for 45, gave his side the early breakthrough in the ninth over by removing young opener Ehsanul on 16. Left-arm pacer Anisur then dismissed the other opener Shahriar Hossain.
Ehsanul was brilliantly taken by Athar at the square-leg region when he pulled Rafiqul while Shahriar was beaten by a brilliant outswinger from Anis which kissed the edge of the bat before going to the safe hands of wicketkeeper Khaled Masood.
Things turned worse for Brothers Union when Sanwar retired hurt in the next over. The discarded national right-hand batsman later made a brilliant comeback with a runner and scored 22 off 29 balls, which included four sweetly timed hits across the rope.
One-down Jahangir Alam, who scored 24 off 53 balls with two fours, threw his wicket in the 27th over when he tried to take a risky third run. Although he was prompt, his non-striking partner Amir Hanif did not leave the crease, leaving both batsman at the same end, allowing Sri Lankan Naveed Newaz to throw the ball from point to wicketkeeper Khaled Masood who did the rest.
Surjo Tarun's dream to restrict Brothers below the 200-mark came to an end at that point when Khaled Mahmud joined Amir Hanif at the crease for the century partnership. The stand was broken in the 50th over when Amir Hanif was caught by Minhazul Abedin at cover off a Rafiqul delivery. The in-form right-hander tried a drive but failed to middle properly, which resulted into a simple catch. In his more than two-hour long stay at the crease, Hanif, who scored an unbeaten 95 against Ajax Sporting in their previous match, scored 67 off 103 balls, which included six boundaries and a huge six off Athar over the wide long-off fence.
Rafiqul was on a hat-trick after the next ball when former Indian Test cricketer Sanjeev Sharma gave him a return catch on a duck. But the tall off-spinner failed to create any panic in lower-order Shahnewaz Kabir.
After Brothers Union lost two quick wickets, Mahmud added a invaluable 43 runs for the sixth wicket with Shahnewaz and took the scoreboard to 224 before being stumped by Khaled Masood on 75. Mahmud faced 114 balls and hit seven fours. The national vice-captain went down to drive left-arm spinner Enamul Haque in the 63rd over but missed the ball, which pitched outside the leg stump and took a sharp turn towards the wicketkeeper.
Brothers added another 42 runs to their total before being all out in 75.2 overs.
Apart from Rafiqul's five-wicket haul, left-arm spinner Enamul Haque was the most economical bowler of the day as he finished with two for 34 from his 15 overs.
Surjo Tarun will be looking forward to score 267 in 80 overs when they begin their innings this morning.