Shantar’s century is a big win for Abahani

Dhaka, 25 April 2024 (BASS): Captain Nazmul Hossain Shanta’s brilliant century won Abahani Limited for the second time in a row in the Super League phase of Dhaka Premier League (DPL) Cricket. Abahani defeated Gazi Group Cricketers by a huge margin of 171 runs in the match held at Khan Saheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatulla today.
With this victory, Abahani remained unbeaten in 13 consecutive matches in this season of DPL. After winning 11 matches in the first phase of the league and 2 matches in the Super League phase, they are on the verge of winning the second title in a row.
Batting first against Gazi Group, Abahani built a mountain of 343 runs in 50 overs. Shanta played a beautiful innings of 101 runs from 84 balls, 8 fours and 6 sixes, after going down at number three. Shanta scored his second century in this league.
Apart from Shanta, Enamul Haque Bijay, Tawhid Hriday and Mosaddek Hossain contributed to Abahani’s big score. Vijay came down to play in the middle order and scored 68 runs off 51 balls with 4 fours and 5 sixes. Hriday scored an impeccable 58 runs in 40 balls in the half-century innings. His innings had 3 fours and 4 sixes. In the end, Mosaddek scored 33 runs off 17 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. Shanto-Vijay put on a 130-run stand for the third wicket.
With the Zimbabwe series and T20 World Cup fast approaching, Abahani rested the top three pacers in the bowling line-up, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin and Shariful Islam. But despite their absence, Abahani did not have to break a sweat to win.
With a target of 344 runs, the other bowlers of Abahani bowled out Gazi Group for 172 runs in 35.1 overs. Left-arm spinner Rakibul Islam took 4 wickets for 44 runs and Mosaddeq and Tanjim Hasan Shakib took 2 wickets each.
Sabbir Hossain tried to fight for the Gazi group in the face of Abahani bowlers. He scored maximum 62 runs for the team. Besides, Habibur Rahman scored 38 runs.