On his return to competitive cricket for the first time after recovering from a groin injury, Najmul Hossain Shanto hammered a superb 54 ball-80 but his knock was not enough to help his side Rajshahi win the game against Barishal Division in the NCL T20 today at Sylhet Academy ground.
Thanks to his tremendous knock, Rajshahi put up a respectable 184-5 but Barishal overhauled the total with three balls to spare by making 188-5 for their first victory in the tournament in three matches.
Fazle Rabbi was instrumental in Barishal's victory by smashing 34 ball-56, a knock studded by three fours and as many sixes. Opener Abdul Majid hit 53 off 39 with six boundaries to play a second fiddle to Fazle Rabbi.
Majid and his opening partner Iftekhar Hossain Ifti shared 79 runs in just 53 balls for the opening stand to lay the platform. Ifti made 35 off 24.
Shanto, the regular skipper of Bangladesh national, who missed the West Indies tour due to his injury, sustained during the Afghanistan series, had no rust despite batting after a long time.
He struck five fours and four sixes in his knock and shared 89 runs with Habibur Rahman, in opening stand.
After the dismissal of Habibur who clobbered 33 ball-47 with one four and five sixes, no batters could give Shanto a proper support, a thing that played a huge role in their second defeat in third match. —BSS
