Central Zone crowned Independence Cup champions
All-rounder Mosaddek Hossain was adjudged player of the match for his unbeaten 33 runs with the bat and a brace with the ball. He was also the player of the series with 148 runs and 6 wickets to his name.
After securing the title of the longer version tournament, the Walton Central Zone became the champions of the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) one-day competition - the Independence Cup. In the final of the tournament, they beat the BCB South Zone convincingly by six wickets. Central Zone reached the target of 164 with 45 balls to spare.
Soumya Sarkar and Mizanur Rahman - the Central Zone opening batters - got them off to a fine start chasing 164. For the first wicket, these two added 65 before Nasum Ahmed sent back Soumya. The southpaw hit four boundaries in his 25-ball-21.
But soon Central Zone found themselves staring down the barrel as they lost three more wickets in the space of 15 runs. Those wickets included the ones of the well-set Mizanur (39) and Mohammad Mithun.
But Al-Amin Hossain and skipper Mosaddek Hossain ensured there were no more hiccups in the chase. Mosaddek was slow in terms of scoring rate but Al-Amin played his natural game. Their unbroken partnership got Central Zone home with 7.3 overs remaining.
Mosaddek was unbeaten on 33 off 85 balls. Al-Amin scored 53 not out off 69 deliveries. His innings involved four boundaries.
Earlier, the BCB South Zone could not put a big total on the board. The wicket had a lot of assistance for the bowlers. But the beginning was solid from the South Zone openers - Anamul Haque and Pinak Ghosh. The duo added 51 in 11.5 overs before Nazmul Islam Apu got the first breakthrough by pinning Anamul leg-before for 20.
His partner Pinak was the top scorer for the South Zone with 35 off 47 balls. Pinak was the second batter to go as Soumya Sarkar got the better of him.
South Zone could never quite recover from the loss of their openers. Towhid Hridoy, one of the vital cogs in the wheel for South Zone, went for a duck. Nahidul Islam (31) and Amite Hasan (29) got starts but none of them went on to play longer innings. Skipper Zakir Hasan too failed to live up to the expectations. He scored 14.
South Zone were bundled out for a moderate 163 with seven balls still left in the innings. For Walton South Zone, five bowlers - Mosaddek Hossain, Nazmul Islam Apu, Soumya Sarkar, Hasan Morad and Mrittunjoy Chowdhury - got two wickets each.
All-rounder Mosaddek Hossain was adjudged player of the match for his unbeaten 33 runs with the bat and a brace with the ball. He was also the player of the series with 148 runs and 6 wickets to his name.
