Sumon takes 7 wickets including a hat-trick, Rajshahi bowled out for lowest total

Sumon Khan raised hopes for a hat-trick with wickets on consecutive deliveries. The daunting task of facing the hat-trick ball fell upon Asaduzzaman. However, Rajshahi Division's bowler appeared defeated even before the battle began. He made no effort to play Sumon's delivery aimed straight at the middle stump.

Dhaka Division's intense appeal followed immediately, and the umpire wasted no time raising his finger. Hat-trick achieved, along with a seven-wicket haul; an ecstatic Sumon dashed off in celebration, leaving his teammates struggling to catch him.

Sumon dismissed Sanjamul Islam and Mohar Sheikh with two superb deliveries caught behind. The right-arm pacer then trapped Asaduzzaman LBW to complete his hat-trick. This was Sumon's first hat-trick in first-class cricket and his first-ever three consecutive wickets in any form of recognised cricket.

He became the 15th Bangladeshi bowler to achieve a hat-trick in first-class cricket. Among the previous 14, Elias Sunny and Sohag Gazi have achieved two hat-tricks each. Sumon also recorded his career-best performance in this format, taking seven wickets for the first time. His previous best was 6 for 50.

Under Sumon's fierce bowling attack, Rajshahi crumbled to a meagre total. In the sixth round of the National Cricket League (NCL) at Bogura's Shaheed Chandu Stadium, they were bowled out for just 42 runs. This is now the lowest team total in Bangladesh's first-class cricket history.

The previous dubious record belonged to Barishal, who were dismissed for 46 runs against Khulna last season. Additionally, Dhaka Metro were bowled out for 48 against Rangpur in this tournament in 2014.

Opting to bat first after losing the toss, Rajshahi faltered from the outset. None of their batsmen could withstand Sumon's relentless bowling. They were all out in the first session after batting only 20.5 overs. Sumon claimed 7 wickets for just 18 runs in 7.5 overs. This was the sixth time the 24-year-old pacer took five or more wickets in a first-class innings.

Six Rajshahi batsmen failed to score any runs. The highest scorer was SM Mehrab Hasan with 18 runs, followed by Sabbir Hossain with 10. None of the other batsmen reached double figures. On a day dominated by Sumon, Ripon Mondol, MD Enamul Haque, and Rubel Mia took one wicket each. At the time of writing, Dhaka Division had scored 93 runs for the loss of two wickets in 19 overs in their first innings.