Rangpur promoted as Dhaka Metro go down

Dhaka Metro have been demoted to Tier Two, while Nasir Hossain's Rangpur were promoted to Tier One at the end of the National Cricket League (NCL), one of the two four-day domestic competitions in Bangladesh, yesterday.

Rangpur drew their last game against Rajshahi at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra yesterday, thereby taking their points tally to 72 from six games. Second-placed Rajshahi needed to win the game in order to secure promotion, but the loss saw them finish on 65 points.

Led by Myshukur Rahman's 160 and Jahurul Islam's unbeaten 73, Rajshahi ended their second innings on 403 for 7 and set Rangpur a target of 244. Rangpur had around 44 overs in the day to get those runs, but a win was not compulsory as they only required a draw for promotion.

However, they did seem keen on winning the game, and finished the day on 196 for 2 in 44.2 overs with opener Jahid Javed top-scoring with a 105-ball 70.

Meanwhile, Dhaka thumped Barisal by an innings and 78 runs to finish second in the top tier. Khulna had successfully defended their championship the day before when they had thrashed Dhaka Metro within three days and so the second spot was all that Dhaka could play for.

Barisal were bundled out for 321 in the second innings and ended up losing the game in the morning session. Dhaka finished second with 54 points, four short of champions Khulna.

Meanwhile, Sylhet drew with Chittagong at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday to avoid finishing at the bottom of the second tier. Chittagong ended up as the worst team of the NCL this season.

SCORES IN BRIEF 

RAJSHAHI V RANGPUR 

RAJSHAHI: 103 and 403 for 7 Dec (Myshukur 160, Jahurul 73; Saddam 2-47, Baby 2-87) 

RANGPUR: 351 and 196 for 2 (Jahid 70, Mahmudul 54; Mamun 1-23, Farhad 1-49) 

Result: Match Drawn

Player of the match: Myshukur Rahman

DHAKA V BARISAL 

DHAKA: 588 for 6 Dec 

BARISAL: 189 and 321 (f/o) all out (Shahriar 104; Dewan 3-25, Nazmul 3-93)

Result: Dhaka won by an innings and 78 runs.

Player of the match: Taibur Rahman  

SYLHET V CHITTAGONG 

SYLHET: 555 for 7 dec and 165 for 7 dec (Ruman 68; Iftekhar 3-53) 

CHITTAGONG: 320 and 261 for 7 (Sazzadul 54, Yasir 41, Saifuddin 41; Rahatul 3-71, Jayed 2-18) 

Result: Match drawn. 

Player of the match: Alok Kapali