Afif bags NCL hat-trick as Khulna smell victory

BSS, Dhaka :

Afif Hossain became the first bowler in the ongoing 27th National Cricket League (NCL) to bag a hat-trick as Khulna sniffed a victory against Barishal after Day 2 of the first round game at Khulna Divisional Stadium on Sunday.

The record made Afif the 19th Bangladeshi bowler to take a hat-trick in first-class cricket.

Before him, 18 Bangladeshi bowlers had achieved this feat, amongst whom Elias Sunny, Sohag Gazi, and Mohammad Ashraful each recorded two hat-tricks.

Primarily a batter, Afif finished with 6-31 including his hat-trick with his wily off-spin, his second best bowling figure in first class cricket, behind his 7-66 against Rajshahi in the 2018 edition of the NCL.

His bowling forced Barishal to be all out for just 126 in their first innings, in reply of Khulna’s 313 all out. Opener Zahiduzzaman was the lone warrior with 57.

Instead of batting second time, Khulna enforced a follow-on but Barishal regrouped well to end the day on 119-4.

Despite a good effort in the second innings, Barishal are trailing by 68 runs still.

Opener Iftekhar Hossain Ifti made highest 40 in their second innings while Fazle Mahmud scored 32. Shamsur Rahman was batting on 24 with Tasamul Haque on 3 at stumps.

Earlier, resuming the day on 312-9, Khulna were able to add just one run to their overnight total.