BPL Update

 

Two further games were played out today. Comilla beat Chattogram in the morning match to continue their undefeated run in the competition. Dear of the show for them was Faf du Plessis who put aside two single figure scores in the first two games to get 83* today in a total of 183. Chattogram failed to impress and were all out with a 52 run deficit in the 17th over.

In the afternoon fixture Barishal beat Khulna.

Despite their loss, Chattogram's Will Jack's scored 69 today and, added to his score of 52 on Saturday, usurps Tamim Iqbal as the top runscorer in the tournament.

There has also been change in the wicket taking rankings with Kamrul Islam Rabbi getting two two-fers this weekend to take his total to 10. 

National Super League Limited Over Tournament Update

 

Kandy kept their sticky paws on joint top spot after a win against bottom of the league Dambulla today. Oshada Fernando was the hero with 138 runs from 141 balls to take Kandy to 318-9; the highest total of the tournament by a huge margin of 44 runs. Dambulla took 42 overs to get all out for 163.

Kandy are joint top of the table with Jaffna who comprehensively beat Galle in the other match today.

Despite playing one fewer game than other batters Fernardo is the highest run scorer thanks to his outing today. Galle's young all-rounder Dhananjaya Lakshan had the most wickets with 8. 

BPL Update

In this curiously scheduled tournament, Chattogram won their fifth fixture today to take the lead at the top of the table. In second place are Comilla who have played just twice. All very odd.

Tamim Iqbal continues to excel for Dhaka. After scoring 102 in his first two fixtures, he had gone on to register a score of 111* against Sylhet yesterday to spare his blushes after scores of 0 and 3 midweek. Surprisingly that was not the highest score in the match with Lendl Simmons scoring 116 in a losing effort. That marks the highest score to date in the tournament.

Just as Tamim has led from fixture one with the bat, Mehidy Hasan Miraz has done the same with the ball. 9 wickets at 16 is not too shabby at all. 

National Super League Limited Over Tournament Update

 

Sri Lanka have been playing hard (white) ball again by saying that National Super League Limited Over Tournament Form will be the main criteria for national selection. Subsequently this has seen this turn into a rather star studded event. 

It was Jaffna who looked in the best form on Day One as they annihilated Dambulla by 176 runs. Captain Dhananjaya De Silva got 69 as Jaffna made a decent total of 255 all out either 3 overs left in the bank. They then rolled Dambulla over for just 79 with De Silva again looking impressive with figures of 3-5.

In the other game, Galle beat Colombo with Pritamal Perera scoring 98

BPL Round Up

The Bangladesh Premier League kicked off yesterday - not that you would know it if you are a UK viewer.

Today's morning game was a low scoring affair between reigning champions Comilla and Sylhet. Sylhet were all out for a mere 96 but Comilla failed to impress in the chase and looked sluggish. They eventually got there for the loss of eight wickets. Much improvement will be needed for their third tournament win in a row.

Chattogram's bowlers had the better of Dhaka today as a number of then walk away with stunning figures. After Chattogram set the bar with 161 but Dhaka were all out with 30 runs still left to get. Shoriful Islam was the best bowler with 4-34.

Despite their loss Dhaka's Tamim Iqbal scored 52 to add to his 50 yesterday to make him the highest runscorer. Chattogram mark their bowling superiority with Mehidy Hasan Miraz having the most wickets at the best economy.

 

Logan Cup Round Up

 

While their international compatriots are pulling up roots in Sri Lanka, the Zimbabwean domestic league has restarted after it's festive break.

Remembrance Nyathi was the star of this round with twin centuries as bottom of the table clash between the Mid West Rhinos and the Rocks ended in an entertaining draw.

His teammate Brandon Mavuta did not do too badly either as he bagged a century and a sixfer. He now has 25 wickets - the most of the tournament.

At the other end of the table, The Mountaineers beat Matabeleland to bring the pair equal on points. 

Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe by 5 wickets

 Zimbabwe put up a decent fist of it in their first match against Sri Lanka, however the Lankans out muscled them in the end.

Sean Williams' ton (100 of 87 balls) powered Zimbabwe to 296 - their fourth highest total against Sri Lanka in ODI history.

It is perhaps telling that their second and third highest totals ended in defeat and such was their fate today. Sri Lanka looked to have the edge at 147-3 but a 129 fourth wicket partnership took the game away from the African nation. 

Prime Minister's Cup Roundup

 

It's been a week and 16 matches since the last Prime Minister's Cup update so there's a lot to catch up on.

Nepal Police Club in Group A and the Armed Police Force are both (suspiciously) dominant in their leagues, with the former being 3 for 3 and the latter 4 from 4. Tomorrow's match is the final round Robin game in the groups and is a dead rubber so it is cut and dried that the two Police clubs will be joined by Tribhuwan Army and Bagmati.

In terms of individual success, Dev Khanal of Lumbini has impressed with the bat courtesy of two half century scores. The most prolific wicket taker is his team mate Anil Kharel with 10. Odd that the team with the highest run scorer and highest wicket taker only won 2 of their 4 games.

The Semi-finals take place on Tuesday with the final the following day. 

South Zone beat Central Zone by 5 wickets

 The table was blown wide open today as second placed South Zone beat top placed Central Zone in a high scoring fixture.

Despite Mustafizur Rahman's outstanding showing of 4-63, Central got to 220-8 in their 50 overs - the third highest total of the tournament thus far. That record only lasted 48.2 overs as South Zone met it rather comfortably to tie on points with Central at the top of the table.

East Zone beat North Zone in the other game.

It's all change at the top of the run scoring and wicket taking rankings. East Zone's Imrul Kayes got 71 in today's game to take him to the top with his colleague Nayeem Hasan taking the most economical figures for a bowler with 7 wickets. 

Central beat North by 28 runs

 The second day of this tournament was a little more freeflowing with the bat; not least in the match up between Central and North Zone.

After North Zone won the toss they chose to put Central in and lived to regret their decision as they amassed 262 in their 50 ivers; the highest score in the competition by some distance. Naeem Islam fought a Lone battle at first drop for North in the reply but his 99 ball 72 was not enough to bridge the gap. This total, plus his 66 in the firstbgame, makes him the competition's top runscorer. His team mate, Shafiqul Islam, is the highest wicket taker with 5. 

The East beat the South in the other game of the day to put them on level points with the North. Central lead the way with two wins. 

Prime Minister's Cup -Day One

 

The Prime Minister's Cup started today with no fewer than eight games.

Run-scoring was not in great abundance in the first round of fixtures. The closest fought of the opening games was Nepal Police vs Sudur Paschim.

The Police made a bit of a hash of it in getting to 93-8. In reply, Sudur Paschim looked good for the win on 48-2 at the halfway mark but managed to throw it away. Aarif Sheikh got four of the last 5 wickets to knock the stuffing out of the Northern team. His figures of 4-9 are the best of the tournament thus far.

Continuing our judicial theme, the Armed Police Force were in action against Province Number 2 in the afternoon matches. Rupesh Singh was the main man for P2, taking 4 of the 5 AP wickets, however their total of 163 was too high in the final reckoning. Aasif Sheikh was the top scorer for the Armed Police with 63. This was also the highest score for the day.

After the first round of matches, Trubhuwan Army top Group A with Bagmati Province leading out Group B.

Central beat Eastern by 22 runs

It was a low scoring affair as the Central Zone walked out winners against East Zone in the first day of the Independence Cup. 4 teams will play each other over the next 7 days in this 50 over comp.

It was a day where the bowlers had the upper hand throughout with Rejaur Rahman Raja looking most impressive for East Zone in holding Central to a mere 177. His figures wrre best for the day.

Despite this underpar total, Central managed to fight good bowling with good bowling and managed to strangle East's batters to a mere 155 in return.

The North Zone beat the South Zone in the other game with Naseem Islam's 66 being the top score of this week long competition. 

West Indies beat Ireland by 24 runs

 Shamarh Brooks made his debut last night and was the fourth oldest player to make their ODI bow for West Indies. He made the Windies think what they were missing as he got an 89 ball 93.

The West Indies looked in early trouble at 62-4, but a stolid fifth wicket partnership of 155 saw the Windies pull it out the fire to end on 269.

Ireland started poorly in their chase and were 1-1 but then put on 164 runs before the loss of their second. There was a decisive moment when they decided they needed to up the strike rate to stay in it ...and subsequently they lost 5 wickets within the last 10 overs.

Ireland looked for more impressive than they did in the curtailed USA series but West Indies just had the edge.

The next game is on Tuesday. 

Northerns beat Southerns by 5 wickets

 

England tried a tournament like this once....briefly.....and then scrapped it....as they are wont to do.

The Northen clubs XI are facing off against the Southern Clubs XI in three one day games. As it stands the Northerners should be well in the box seat as they went off for rain one run short of the Southerners total of just 114. The target was so small thanks to a fivefer from ex-Northants player Blessing Muzarabani.

The other three games will be played on Wednesday and Friday.