Fazle, Anamul fifties give South edge after day one

Fifties from Fazle Mahmud and Anamul Haque laid a solid foundation and ensured South Zone ended on 305-6 at the end of day one in the final of the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) against East Zone at Chattogram.

Fazle and Anamul scored 86 and 76 respectively to form a 136-run opening partnership but East Zone bowlers chipped away with wickets from there on in to find a decent footing in the game.

Al-Amin, who scored a century in the BCB XI practice match against Zimbabwe also scored a decent 39 from 61 balls and there were contributions from Mahedi Hasan (36) and Shamsur Rahman, who stayed unbeaten at stumps on 37.

Fast bowler Ruyel Miah was the pick of the bowlers for East Zone as he took 2-58 while Abu Hider, Saqlain Sajib and Afif Hossain all chipped in with a wicket apiece.

After winning the toss, captain of East Zone Imrul Kayes decided to bowl first, but that backfired as Anamul and Fazle both ground out the bowling.

Anamul's innings had five boundaries and a six while Fazle's had nine fours and two maximums and it took a run-out from substitute fielder Amite Hasan to bring the end of Anamul and the first breakthrough.

From there Fazle and Al-Amin took the team total to 189 before Fazle was dismissed by Saqlain.

Al-Amin and Shamsur took the team total past 200 before Ruyel struck to dismiss Al-Amin with the score at 203-3.

Mahmudullah, who has been dropped from the Test squad was the lowest scorer on the day as his poor form in red-ball cricket continued and he was victim to Hider after scoring just one run.

Wicket-keeper Nurul Hasan got a start to score 18 off 23 in an innings that had four boundaries but he too was dismissed by Ruyel with the team total reading 231-5.

Mahedi was the last player to be dismissed as he too batted in one-day cricket mode with a 36-run innings of just 35 balls; the innings had four boundaries and a maximum as the team total was 283-6.