Abahani Limited won the title of the Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Divison Twenty20 Cricket League beating Prime Bank Cricket Club by eight runs on Saturday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. It was Abahani’s record 21st title of Dhaka’s top-flight cricket event, and three in a row.  Ahead of this game, both Abahani and Prime Bank had equal points, and thus, their last match on the Super League stage became a final. Abahani won the toss and opted to bat first. They posted a challenging total of 150 runs for seven in 20 overs. In later, wrapped up Prime Bank for 142 for nine in 20 overs, and won the game by eight runs.  Mohammad Saifuddin, the right-handed pacer and left-handed batsman, starred in this match scoring 21 off 13 balls and taking four wickets conceding 36 runs in four overs.  Also read: Abahani seal top spot beating Prime Doleshwar Prime Bank’s Alok Kapali remained unbeaten for 34 off 17 deliveries, but his effort went in vain as Shahidul Islam defended 16 runs off the last over.  Prime Bank needed 55 runs in the last 30 balls to lift the title against, but they only could manage 46 runs.  In the last two overs, Prime Bank needed 32 runs. Alok hit Saifuddin for a six and four to score 16 runs, and they needed 16 off the last over.  The first ball was as high as his shoulder, but the leg-umpire refused to call it a no-ball. Alok looked unhappy, and off the last five balls, he only managed seven runs.  Rubel Mia was the highest runs getter for Prime Bank scoring 41, but he faced as many as 43 balls. His slow batting eventually led Prime Bank to the dire need to score quickly at the late of the order.  Saifuddin was tremendous with the ball. Despite conceding nine runs per over, he picked up wickets in crucial times. Mehedi Hasan Rana also did well with the ball taking two wickets. Also read: Abahani, Prime Bank, Prime Doleshwar in Pole Position to Win DPL T20 2021 Earlier, Abahani lost their first wickets before adding any run on the board. Inside the first two overs, they lost both their openers— Mohammad Naim and Munim Shahriar— for 0 and 3 respectively.  Liton Das, one of the mainstays of Abahani, in the absence of Mushfiqur Rahim, also failed to do well as he fell for 19. But in the fourth-wicket stand, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mosaddek Hossain added 70 runs. Shanto scored 45 off 40 while Mosaddek added 40 off 39 balls.  Coming into bat at seven, Saifuddin posted 21 off 13 balls with two sixes. He helped Abahani touched the 150-run mark.  For this all-round performance, Saifuddin won the player of the match award.  Saifuddin ended up Dhaka League scalping 26 wickets in 16 matches with the best of taking four wickets conceding 18 runs. He also did well with the bat scoring 94 runs at the strike rate of 138.26. He batted at the late order in most of the matches. 

Shykat Ali and Nurul Hasan Sohan played remarkably well with the bat to guide Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club to the first win of the Super League match in Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division Twenty20 Cricket League on Sunday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Sheikh Jamal won the toss and sent Prime Bank Cricket Club to bat first, who posted 164 for three in 20 overs. In reply, Sheikh Jamal scored 165 for three in 18.1 overs and won the game by seven wickets at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Despite losing the opener Mohammad Ashraful for only five, Shykat led the charge hitting 60 off 36 balls with six fours and three sixes. Also read: Who is the favorite to win DPL T20 Cricket League? In the second-wicket stand, Shykat and Imrul Kayes added 100 runs, with Imrul scoring 44 off 40 balls with two fours and as many as sixes. Along the way, Shykhat hit his fifty off 28 balls with a six, which eventually earned him the player of the match award. In the last 30 balls, Sheikh Jamal needed 48 runs. Also read: DPL Super League: First day's play washed out Sohan hit 44 off 17 balls with four sixes and two fours to end the remaining job for his team. Sheikh Jamal eventually ended up the game with 11 balls to play, with Sohan and Tanbir Hyder remained unbeaten for 44 and seven respectively. Earlier, Mohammad Mithun scored 67 off 42 balls with seven fours and two sixes. Raqibul Hasan was the second-highest runs-getter for Prime Bank. The first match of the Super League— between Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club and Gazi Group Cricketers— which was scheduled to take place on Sunday morning, was washed out due to the rain. This match is now set to take place on June 22 at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

The Super League phase of the Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division Twenty20 Cricket League is all set to begin Saturday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium without the two most senior national team players – Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal. Shakib left Dhaka for the US early Friday to spend time with his family; Tamim has suffered a leg injury throughout the league. Both Shakib and Tamim's teams – Mohammedan Sporting Club, and Prime Bank Cricketers – have qualified for the Super League. Masuduzzaman, the chair of the cricket committee of Mohammedan, said: "Shakib asked for permission to skip the Super League to spend time with his family in the US. Respecting his decision, we approved his leave." Also read: Shakib banned for three matches, fined Tk 5 lakh Tamim said: "I have been suffering from a leg injury and discussed my condition with the medical team of the board. They told me to rest for a while. Since we have a long series in Zimbabwe, I think I have to be better prepared than I'm right now. So I think I should skip the Super League." Super League lineup Prime Bank Cricket Club topped the points table with the most wins in the initial phase of the league, which consists of 11 rounds. The table-toppers won nine matches and the number two team Abahani eight. Prime Doleshwar, Gazi Group Cricketers, Mohammedan Sporting Club and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club are the other teams of the Super League. On Saturday, three matches will take place at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium where Doleshwar will face Gazi Group at 9am. In the second match, Prime Bank will play against Sheikh Jamal at 2pm while Abhani will take on Mohammedan at 6:30pm. All the matches will be telecast live on GTV and T Sports. Also read: Tamim fined for breaching ICC Code of Conduct against Sri Lanka The second, third, fourth and fifth rounds of the Super League will be played on June 20, 22, 23 and 25 at the same venue. Three teams – Legends of Rupganj, Old DOHS Sports Club and Partex Sporting Club – who hit the rock bottom in the points table – will take on each other once in the relegation round, which will also begin on June 19 at BKSP. The toppers of the relegation league will get the chance to play the next Dhaka League directly, but the other two teams will be relegated to the first division, and they will need to end it as the champions or runners-up to play the next edition of Dhaka League.

Promising young batsman Munim Shahriar continues to shine for Abahani Limited. After hitting an unbeaten 92 in the last game, he hit 74 off 40 on Monday to guide Abahani to a 49-run win under the DL Method over Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.  With this win, Abahani became the number two team in the points table of the Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division Twenty20 Cricket League after Prime Bank Cricket Club. Abahani now have won seven games in nine rounds of the league.  Abahani won the toss and opted to bat first, and they posted a huge total of 183 runs riding on the Munim and Najmul Hossain Shanto. Munim ended up on 74 off 40 with nine fours and three sixes while Najmul remained unbeaten for 65 off 42 with six fours and two sixes. Along the way, Munim completed his fifty off 24 balls, which is now the fastest fifty of Dhaka League so far.  For Sheikh Jamal, Ebadot Hossain, Salauddin Shakil, Nasir Hossain and Ziaur Rahman took one wicket each.  READ: Rony, Shoriful star in Prime Bank win After the rain hit the game, Sheikh Jamal needed to score 148 in 13 overs as per the DL Method, but they tumbled for 98 for eight in 13 overs and lost the game by 49 runs under the DL Method.  In the other games on Monday afternoon, Gazi Group Cricketers beat Partex Sporting Club by nine wickets under the DL Method while the match between Mohammedan Sporting Club and Brothers Union ended up in no-result due to the rain.  READ: Mushfiqur named ICC Player of the Month for May Partex batted first after losing the toss and posted 109 for seven in 20 overs. This match was hit by the rain as well, and the target of Gazi was reduced to 47 runs in eight overs as per the DL Method. Gazi chased down this target with nine wickets in hand. 

Right-handed batsman Irfan Sukkur smashed an unbeaten 68 off 48 balls to guide Mohammedan Sporting Club to their fifth win in Bangabandhu DPL Twenty20 Cricket League against Old DOHS Sports Club on Sunday. Mohammedan lifted the rain-hit match by nine runs under DL Method at BKSP. It was their fifth win in eight encounters. It was Mohammedan’s first game in this season without skipper Shakib Al Hasan who was banned for three matches by BCB for breaching Code of Conduct during another rain-affected match against Abahani on Friday. DOHS won the toss and opted to bowl first. Mohammedan posted a challenging total of 154 for five in 20 overs thanks to wicket-keeper batsman Irfan hitting 68 with three fours and five sixes.  Abdul Mazid contributed  29.  For DOHS, Rakibul Hasan took two wickets conceding 30 runs while Aliss Al Islam, Hamidul Islam and Asaduzzaman Payel bagged one wicket each.  Set a target of 155 runs to win DOHS could manage 115 for four in 16 overs before the rain struck. And due to the persistent rain and wet outfield, the match could not be resumed. And thus, Mohammedan won by 5 runs under the DL Method.  In the other games on Sunday morning, Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club beat Partex Sporting Club by five wickets riding on 71 off 57 by Fazle Mahmud. Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club beat Legends of Rupganj by seven runs under the DL Method, with Shykat Ali and Nurul Hasan scored 43 and 44 not out respectively.   

Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan has been banned for the next three matches of the ongoing Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division Twenty20 Cricket League, due to his extraordinary outburst on the field during his team Mohammedan SC's hot match against rivals Abahani on Friday. He was also handed a fine of Tk 5 lakh. Kazi Inam Ahmed, the chairman of the cricket committee of Dhaka metropolis, confirmed Shakib’s punishment on Saturday evening while talking to the media at the residence of BCB president Nazmul Hasan in Gulshan. Inam also said that the allrounder has accepted his punishment. In a matter of minutes, in two separate incidents, Shakib expressed his disappointment with two different umpiring decisions - an lbw appeal against his good friend from the national team and Abahani's key batsman Mushfiqur Rahim, and then the decision to go off as it started raining - by taking out his rage on the stumps. Also read: DPL: Shakib loses cool; kicks stumps, throws them away The utter disregard and lack of respect for the umpires, his teammates, opponents and fans watching, and above all the game itself was palpable - it will not have been missed by anyone. Taken together, it was as close to violence as you can get on a cricket field, without actually causing injury or bodily harm to anyone. BCB knew immediately that it would have to act, and needed to be seen to act. The  verdict and punishment handed down today was at least prompt, if not quite adequate to cover the scope of the Bangladeshi star's violation of cricketing sensibilities. Not to mention the breach of the Code of Conduct of cricketer. Also read: Shakib apologises after thrashing and kicking stumps “Many things happen in a game. We saw some incidents today in the game between Mohammedan and Abahani. It was unfortunate. It was a heated incident. We always want the players to keep their excitement under control. It’s a T20 event, and we apply all the international cricketing law in this event. We will take action against this incident once we get the report of the match referee and umpires,” Inam had said in his initial reaction last night. Shakib too issued a public apology through his social media pages last night. “Dear fans and followers, I am extremely sorry for losing my temper and ruining the match for everyone and especially those who are watching from home. An experienced player like me should not have reacted that way but sometimes against all odds it happens, unfortunately,” Shakib wrote on his social media page. “I apologise to the teams, management, tournament officials and organizing committee for this human error. Hopefully, I won't be repeating this again in the future. Thanks and love you all,” he added.

Two underdogs beat the favourites in the Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division Twenty20 Cricket League Friday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity overpowered Legends of Rupganj with a seven-wicket victory, while Shinepukur Cricket Club beat Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club by 10 runs. Khelaghar won the toss and sent Rupganj to bat first, who posted 138 for five in 20 overs, riding on the fifty of Al Amin. Azmir Ahmed and Sabbir Rahman also batted well, scoring 28 and 23. READ: Mohammedan continue winning run Masum Khan took two wickets while Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Rishad Hossain took one wicket each for Khelaghar and they chased down the target of 139 with seven wickets in hand despite losing two early wickets. Miraz and Jahurul Islam added 87 runs in the third wicket stand and guided their team to a victory over a stronger opposition. In the second game, Shinepukur won riding on the outstanding bowling performance by Tanvir Islam, the left-arm spinner, who bagged three wickets conceding only eight runs in four overs. Earlier, Shinepukur batted first and posted 137 runs for five wickets in 20 overs with Robiul Islam Robi hitting the highest score of 34. Tanzid Hasan, Towhid Hridoy and Sabbir Hossain also did well scoring 34, 28 and 20. For Sheikh Jamal, Ebadot Hossain and Ziaur Rahman took two wickets each. READ: Old DOHS hand Abahani easy victory   However, they were bundled out for 127 in 19.5 overs while chasing the target of 138. Shykat Ali and Mohammad Ashraful started well with boundaries but failed to get it going. Shykat fell for 9 while Ashraful scored only four. In the third wicket stand, Nasir Hossain and Elias Sunny added 58 runs, which was not enough for Sheikh Jamal to avoid a defeat as the other batsmen failed to respond well. READ: Alauddin registers a hattrick to guide Brothers to easy win Tanvir bagged three for Shinepukur, Hasan Murad took two, and Sumon Khan, Iftekhar Sazzd scalped one wicket each.