Rakibul bags nine, Ebadot hits maiden first-class fifty

Bangladesh left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan became just the fifth bowler in the country to bag nine wickets in an innings in first-class cricket in NCL fixture for Mymensingh against Sylhet at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Monday. It was the sixth instance of a bowler getting nine wickets in an innings in domestic first-class competitions.

The left-arm spinner got every batter's scalp from Sylhet except centurion Shykat Ali, who batted for 355 minutes over two days after opening the innings and staged a rearguard resistance with tail-enders. Shykat strung together a partnership of 148 with number ten batter Ebadot Hossain, who starred with a 110-ball 58, notching his first-ever fifty in first-class cricket.

Shykat himself starred with a career-best 175 off 232 deliveries, laced with 19 fours and eight sixes before he departed to pacer Shohidul Islam, caught at short third-man. After Shykat's dismissal, Rakibul entered the nine-wicket club with the wicket of Ebadot, out stumped as Sylhet were bowled out for 489, taking a 88-run first innings lead.

Rakibul finished with figures of 9 for 168. Sunzamul Islam, Saqlain Sajib, Mosharraf Hossain and veteran national team and first-class star Abdur Razzak have taken nine wickets in domestic first-class competitions before Rakibul. Razzak has achieved the feat twice, against Chittagong in 2012 (9 for 84) and Dhaka Metro in 2014 (9 for 91).