National Cricket League (FC) 2008-09, Round two, day three
Fatullah: Barisal* v Khulna
Barisal 288 (94.4) - Nasir Hossain 67, Shahin Hossain 52, Sajidul Islam 75; Robiul Islam 5-86
Khulna 210 (79.3) - Talha Jubair 4-43, Sajidul Islam 3-51
Barisal 169-9 (90.1) - Murad Khan 3-51
Barisal fought through a tepid day's cricket to place themselves in a strong position to finish off Khulna on the final day, some 257 runs ahead. Progress wasn't pretty though: Ziaur Rahman conceded 15 from 14 overs, Dolar Mahmud 16 from 11 and Murad Khan 51 from 30. Captain Imran Ahmed eked out Barisal's highest score, a 130-ball 34.
Rajshahi: Rajshahi* v Chittagong
Rajshahi 438-9 (153.4) - Farhad Hossain 88, Anisur Rahman 142, Khaled Mashud 72; Mohammad Younus 4-110
Chittagong 120 (52.2) - Suhrawadi Shuvo 5-34
Chittagong (following on) 207-7 (59) - Gazi Salahuddin 78; Farhad Hossain 4-72
Chittagong require another unlikely 112 runs to make Rajshahi bat again after the home spinners turned the screw on day three. Resuming on 54-3, Chittagong lost their last six wickets for just 57, as Suhrawadi Shuvo returned figures of 20-5-34-5. Second time around, Rajshahi largely dispensed with their seam attack - neither Mohammad Shahazad nor Alamgir Kabir has been seen as of yet - and left Shuvo to bowl unchanged from one end. Spirited resistance from Gazi Salahuddin, Tariq Ahmed (49*) and Faisal Hossain (47) appeared to have kept Chittagong in the game, before the latter's dismissal triggered a collapse of four wickets for 16, all to offspinner Farhad Hossain.
Sylhet: Sylhet* v Dhaka
Sylhet 343 (120.4) - Golam Rahman 71, Mithun Ali 69, Kamrul Islam 62, Ezaz Ahmed 88; Elias Sunny 7-79
Dhaka 254 (78.1) - Shamsur Rahman 78, Marshall Ayub 59, Nazmul Hossain 54; Rashedur Rahman 5-38, Nazmul Hossain 3-49
Sylhet 113 (49.1) - Elias Sunny 6-28
Dhaka 34-0 (13)
Elias Sunny tore through Sylhet for the second time in the game to set up an intriguing final day. Dhaka require a further 169 with all ten wickets still standing, but the pitch appears to be deteriorating rapidly. The unbeaten overnight Dhaka pair, Marshall Ayub and Nazmul Hossain, cracked on in the morning to take their sixth wicket stand to 102, before the last five batsmen tumbled for just 10 runs, with none of the bottom four registering a run. Elias then destroyed Sylhet, who were 58-1 at one stage with Saikat Ali and Golam Rahman going well, finishing with match figures of 41.4-10-107-13. The experience of Javed Omar (23*) and Anwar Hossain (10*) saw Dhaka through to the close without alarm.