Ruyel's record eight wickets highlight first day of fourth NCL round

An 18-year-old rookie pace bowler, Ruyel Miah of Sylhet, announced himself on the national stage with an astonishing 8-wicket haul that destroyed the Chattogram batting line up, bowling them out for just 106 in the first innings in the National Cricket League (NCL), the sole domestic first class cricket competition.

Ruyel's final figures of 8/26 are the best ever by a Bangladeshi at first class level. It gave his side a good chance of earning promotion from Tier 2 to Tier of NCL next year.   

Other performances that made headlines Saturday as the 6th and final round of NCL matches got underway across its two tiers were Taibur Rahman, Sohrawordi Shuvo and Fazle Mahmud also came to the limelight scoring centuries for their respective teams on day one on Saturday.

Dhaka vs Khulna: At the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna, the championship is at stake with the two table-toppers in Tier 1 facing off against each other. On day 1, second-placed Dhaka made a goodish start as they look to deny table-topping Khulna a record 7th NCL title.  

After Khulna won the toss and sent Dhaka in to bat first, the central division fought doggedly to bat the entire day, reaching 273 for 7 at stumps. Right-arm pacer Abdul Halim picked up two early wickets sending Khulna  in deep trouble in the very beginning of the game. Uttam Sarkar and Shafiul Hayat were both sent back to the pavilion with ducks to their name. Raqibul Hasan took part in a recovery effort but when he was out 24 leaving Dhaka 47/3, it didn't look as if they would survive the day.

However, Abdul Mazid and Taibur Rahman added 129 runs for the fourth wicket, and with that the game was back on. Before falling prey to Halim, Mazid scored 66. Taibur completed his century, falling for 110 off 180 with seven fours and three sixes.

Shuvagata Hom remained batting with 56 runs with Nazmul Islam (5*). Eventually, Dhaka ended day-1 scoring 273 for 7 in 90 overs.

Abdul Halim bagged 5/27 while Ziaur Rahman picked up two wickets for 20 runs in eight overs.

Brief score:

Dhaka Division 1st innings 273/7 (Taibur 110, Mazid 66, Shuvagata 56*, Abdul Halim 5/27, Ziaur 2/20)

Rangpur vs Rajshahi: In the other Tier-1 match between Rangpur and Rajshahi, Rangpur made a good start in the final round of NCL scoring 263 runs for eight wickets in 85 overs.

Rajshahi won the toss and opted to field first. Rangpur lost both of their openers within 11 runs. After the initial blow, they added 66 runs in the third wicket stand with the help of Sohrawordi Shuvo and captain Naeem Islam.

Shuvo hit a ton (105) while Naeem posted 40. Along with them, Ariful Haque (57) and Tanbir Hyder (26*) did well with the bat. But, Nasir Hossain failed to continue on good run as he fell for 5 this time.

Right-arm pace duo- Delwar Hossain and Mohor Sheikh bagged four and three wickets respectively.

Brief score:
Rangpur 1st innings 263/8 in 85 overs (Sohrawordi 105, Ariful 57, Naeem 40, Delwar 4/55, Mohor 3/53)

Tier 2

Barishal vs Dhaka Metro: Riding on a century by Fazle Mahmud, Barishal made a flying start against Dhaka Metro in the Tier-2 match scoring 338 runs for six wickets in 90 overs in Barishal.

Barishal won the toss and decided to bat first. Shahriar Nafees (44) and Abu Sayeem (12) added 40 runs in the opening stand. After the dismissal of Sayeem, Fazle took the field and hit 141 off 168 with 10 fours and eight sixes. Salman Hossain and Moin Khan ended the scoring 69* and 38* respectively.

Taskin Ahmed and Asif Hasan bagged two wickets each for Dhaka Metro.

Brief score:

Barishal 1st innings 338/6 in 90 overs (Fazle Mahmud 141, Salman 69*, Nafees 44, Taskin 2/40, Asif 2/74)

Chattogram vs Sylhet: At the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra, teenage tearaway Ruyel Miah came to the limelight as he recorded the best First Class bowling figures ever by a Bangladeshi, taking 8/26 against Chattogram after Sylhet won the toss and sent their opponents in to bat first.
Which wasn't for long, as the south-east division were bundled out for 106 in just 35.1 overs as they were clueless to face Ruyel.
Tasamul Haque and Irfan Sukkur hit 21 each for Chattogram, while Shakhawat Hossain (11) and Noman Chowdhury (10) were the only other batsmen to score double- digits.

In reply, Sylhet posted 186 for five in 48 overs at the end of the day-1. Amite Hasan hit fifty (55) for Sylhet while Alok Kapali scored 41, and Asadullah Galib remained unbeaten on 28.

Ifran Hossain took four wickets for Chattogram conceding 76 runs in 14 overs.

Brief score:

Chattogram 1st innings: 106/10 in 35.1 overs (Tasamul 21, Irfan 21, Ruyel 8/26)
Sylhet 1st innings: 186/5 (Amite 55, Alok 41, Ifran 4/76)