Sikandar Raza scored his first century at the ongoing Dhaka Premier League season on Wednesday but his remarkable effort was in vain as Shinepukur Cricket Club came short by 34 runs against the defending champions Abahani Limited in the Bangladesh capital.
Raza’s Shinepukur was left facing a difficult run chase when Abahani Limited compiled a hefty 333-5 after being sent to bat first.
The Zimbabwean allrounder gave the reigning champions a huge scare with his fnearly faultless innings as he smashed eight fours and seven sixes in his 107 off 93.
He was ably supported by while opener Avishek Mitra, who made 82 as the pair shared a third wicket partnership stand of 137 runs.
After their dismissal, Shinepukur lost wickets in cluster to be restricted to 299-7.
Although Shinepukur came short in their bid to upset the defending champions, the encounter was a memorable one for Raza as he continues to establish himself as the team’s talisman.
The 35-year-old middle order batsman was delighted to reach a century after coming up agonisingly short in the previous encounter when he was dismissed for 98 against Prime Bank Cricket Club in Savar.
Nice to finally get a 💯 in #bangladesh
Few good wins in the next games and #Inshallah qualifying for the Super League is very much on.#dpl #Dhaka #Cricket #VisitZimbabwe #DhakaPremierLeague pic.twitter.com/16ZD4JkQ01— Sikandar Raza (@SRazaB24) March 31, 2022
Raza has been in brilliant form with the bat in this year’s Dhaka Premier League. In addition to his century and 98 in the last two matches he also managed scores of 42 and 74 not-out in his first two matches.
Although Shinepukur are in eighth position on the 11-team Dhaka Premier League log standings with just two wins in their first six matches, the Zimbabwean is currently the fourth highest leading scorer with 344 runs from six matches at an impressive average of 68.80.
The Zimbabwean star was signed by Shinepukur Cricket Cub as their sole overseas player for this year’s Dhaka Premier League.
Raza is one of the few foreign players taking part in Bangladesh’s only List A (50-over) competition after all the participating teams were allowed one overseas player.