Saif, Naim help Central Zone clinch second BCL one-day trophy

Saif Hassan and Mohammad Naim notched a 164-run stand for the second wicket to help Central Zone to a dominating five-wicket win over North Zone in the Bangladesh Cricket League final at Mirpur’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium today.

Having won the earlier league fixture against North Zone, Central dominated proceedings with bat and ball in the final to clinch their second BCL one-day trophy.

After bundling out North Zone for 238 in 49.3 overs, Central lost opener Jishan Alam (14 off 17) cheaply as Nahid Rana struck early.

However, Naim and Saif held firm against Rana and Shoriful Islam’s pace and quickly began to dominate proceedings. The duo punished anything loose as Saif reached his fifty off 49 deliveries. Naim soon followed, bringing up his fifty off 63 deliveries.

With both batters looking on course for hundreds, North Zone hit back through Rishad Hossain, who castled Naim for 78 off 87 balls, laced with five fours and three maximums. Soon after, Saif flat-batted a Shoriful delivery that caught him high on the bat, perishing for an effective 87 off 78, laced with seven fours and three sixes.

In a match where the slow over-rate did not seem to matter, Central ended sluggishly, losing two more wickets before reaching the target with 12 overs to spare.

Earlier, North Zone got off to a stuttering start as Taskin Ahmed and Ripon Mondol applied pressure with early wickets. Opener Habibur Rahman played and missed a few before being caught behind off Taskin for five off 17, while Tanzid Tamim, who looked fluent, perished to Ripon after a 22-ball 23.

With Litton Das absent from the game, Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Tawhid Hridoy stitched together a 52-run stand for the third wicket. Spinners quickly came into play, with Saif accounting for Shanto for 35 off 51 balls before Rakibul Hasan’s double strike in the 31st over -- removing Meherob Hasan and Akbar Ali -- saw North Zone slump to 123 for five.

Hridoy first added 63 runs with Sabbir Rahman, who contributed 24. After starting slowly, Hridoy reached 50 off 69 deliveries and continued to accelerate. He looked set for a hundred but, with four deliveries remaining in the innings, fell short by four runs, dismissed for 96 off 98 balls as North Zone failed to surpass the 250-run mark.

Ripon was the pick of the bowlers for Central Zone with four for 41 in 9.3 overs, while Taskin bagged two for 56 in his 10 overs.