Mahmudullah continues rich vein of form in NCL

Mahmudullah Riyad continued his rich vein of form in the National Cricket League (NCL) as he struck his second successive half-century amid his side Dhaka Metro's miserable performance on Thursday.

In the Tier-2 game of the NCL, Dhaka Metro was bowled out for 246 in their first innings against Sylhet Division at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra.

Sylhet then ended the day on 5-1 before the bails were drawn.

Little known medium pacer Rejaur Rahman Raja who came up in the match with just one first class game under his belt caused the havoc in Metro's innings, claiming 4-75.

Rejaur firstly gave the side breakthrough with the wicket of Metro's opener Rakin Ahmed and then went on to scythe down the middle order.

As the situation was going to be worse, Mahmudullah who struck 63 in the first round game, stool tall. This time also he made 63 off 108 with eight fours. No.8 batsman Shahidul Islam scored 54 to come up as ably support for Mahmudullah and took the side closer to 246, which looked vastly unlikely at one stage.

Enamul Haque Junior and Alok Kapali grabbed two wickets apiece to complement Rejaur's four-for.

In another Tier-2 game, Chattogram Division suffered a big blow when opener Tamim Iqbal had to skip the match for his muscle strain. Despite the absence of the team's star opener, they made a decent start, ending day one on 261-4 against Barishal Division at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium.

Opener Irfan Shukkur gave the side a solid platform, hitting 57. After a slight blip, they recovered further through Yasir Ali and Mahidul Islam Ankon who shared 117 runs in an undefeated fifth wicket stand.

By the end of the day, Ankon was batting on 69 while Yasir Ali was on 68.