Abahani Limited beat Legends of Rupganj by 4 wickets in the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) on Tuesday (March 18). Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto scored a century that won the game.  In a close game at BKSP Ground No. 3, Abahani scored 293 runs and chased down the target with eight balls to spare.

Legends of Rupganj chose to bat first and got off to a good start, but they weren't able to build on their early success.  Neither Tanzid Hasan Tamim (24 off 20) nor Soumya Sarkar (27 off 31) could make big scores from their starts.  But Saif Hassan (67 off 103) and Mahmudul Hasan Joy (58 off 54) put together an important 94-run partnership that kept things stable in the middle overs.

They scored 292 runs in 50 overs, with cameos from Afif Hossain (26 off 25), Jaker Ali Anik (35 off 35), and Mahedi Hasan (28 off 19).  Nahid Rana and Mosaddek Hossain took two wickets each, making them the best bowlers.

Abahani got off to a bad start when Parvez Hossain Emon left for a golden duck. They were trying to reach a tough target.  But Shanto and Jishan Alam took charge and put on 107 runs for the second wicket.  Jishan played well and scored 46 runs off of 43 balls before being out.

Shanto kept up his strong play, putting together another 50-run partnership with Mohammad Mithun (34 off 39).  Even though wickets were falling all around him, the Abahani captain kept his cool and reached 100 in the 35th over.  The most important part of Abahani's chase was his 101 off 108 balls, which included 12 fours and 2 sixes.

Mominul Haque (35* off 32) and Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby (31* off 25) made sure there were no problems after he was out, leading Abahani to win with eight balls to spare.