Mushfiqur, Mosaddek help Abahani bounce back

Soumya Sarkar's fifty and Mahedi Hasan's solid knock for Gazi Group went in vain as unbeaten fifties from Abahani Limited skipper Mushfiqur Rahim and Mosaddek Hossain helped the Sky Blues bounce back and register a comfortable victory in the Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division T20 League today. 

Despite their flying start, the Mahmudullah Riyad-led Gazi Group ended up losing by seven wickets against Mushfiqur's Abahani in the afternoon game at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. 

After being sent to bat, Soumya and Mahedi provided a blistering start to Gazi as the duo amassed 78 runs for the opening stand before the latter fell prey to Aminul Islam in the ninth over following a 32-ball 43. Soumya, however, picked up his second fifty of the tournament but the left-hander's 50-ball 67, laced with six boundaries and two maximums, did not receive much support from the likes of Mominul Haque, Yasir Ali and skipper Mahmudullah Riyad as Gazi Group managed to post 150 for eight. 

Abahani did not get a decent start in chase of the competitive total. The Sky Blues were left struggling at 48 for three after 8.2 overs with Mohammad Naim (10 off 7) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (5 off 7) returning for cheap scores and Munim Shahriar (28 off 33) unable to convert his start into something meaningful. 

However, the complexion of the game changed with Mushfiqur and Mosaddek in the middle. The duo strung together an unbeaten 105-run fourth-wicket stand that saw Abahani win the game rather easily with two overs to spare. Mushfiqur remained unbeaten on a 35-ball 53 while Mosaddek, who played more aggressively, scored a quick-fire 28-ball 50 that featured four boundaries and three maximums. 

Meanwhile, at BKSP 4, Prime Bank registered a seven wicket victory against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club. Prime Bank's national team pacers Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman scalped two wickets each to help restrict Sheikh Jamal to a mediocre 133 for nine before Rony Talukdar's 34-ball 48 and apt contributions from Tamim Iqbal (23 off 27), Anamul Haque (35 off 33) and Mohammad Mithun (21* off 19) helped Prime Bank register their fourth victory in five games. 

In the other game at BKSP 3, an all-round performance from Rahatul Ferdous helped Brothers Union beat Partex Sporting Club by 33 runs. Electing to bat, Brothers suffered a horrible batting collapse that reduced them to 57 for six after 11 overs with only one of their top five batsmen reaching double figures. Following the slump, Rahatul smashed a 44-ball 54 as he and Naeem Islam revived Brothers' innings with a crucial 78-run seventh-wicket stand. Brothers ended up with a commendable score of 147 for eight. 

Following the exchange, it was once again Rahatul who played a pivotal role with the ball in hand as the 26-year-old finished with career-best T20 figures of four for 34 to help bundle out Partex for 114 in 19.5 overs.