Khulna favourites in three-horse title race
After all the fifth-round games ended in a draw, the sixth and final round of the National Cricket League will reach the climax of the competition, with the champions of the first-class competition to be crowned after the round of games that start across four venues today.
Khulna Division have been top of the table in Tier 1 from the start and are frontrunners for the title, but both Rajshahi and Dhaka Division have a chance to jump to the top and clinch the league.
Rangpur also have a chance, albeit mostly on paper, to become champions. They are bottom of the table and will be more concerned with avoiding relegation to Tier 2, in which Sylhet currently have the lead.
Sylhet will be eyeing promotion to Tier 1 but Dhaka Metropolis, Chittagong and Barisal all have the chance to go top.
The fourth team from Tier 1 will be demoted to Tier 2 from the next season while the top team from Tier 2 be promoted to Tier 1.
Khulna will host Dhaka at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium while Rangpur will face Rajshahi on their home turf. In Tier 2, Barisal will host Dhaka Metropolis and Chittagong will lock horns with Sylhet in Bogura.
With two wins and three draws from five games, Khulna have 29.96 points while Dhaka are second with 24.1 points after one win and four draws. Rajshahi are third with 17.11 points and Rangpur are bottom with 11.72 points.
Tier 2 leaders Sylhet have two wins, as many defeats and a draw in five games to give them 26.55 points but second-place Dhaka Metropolis not far behind with 21.91 points. Chittagong and Barisal are third and fourth with 19.42 and 17.62 points respectively.
Although his team Rangpur have not done well, Nasir Hossain has been instrumental with the bat and is currently the top-run getter in the league with 438, which include a hundred and three fifties.
Dhaka Division’s Taibur Rahman is second position with 412 runs and Anamul Haque is third three with 377 runs, including two hundreds.
With the ball, Khulna’s experienced left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak, who became the first Bangladeshi to scalp 600 first-class wickets, is the leading wicket-taker with 31 scalps.
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