The newcomers, who made a poor start but bounced back after the players were handed punishments for playing reckless cricket in the middle of the league, recorded their eighth consecutive win to stretch their collection to 22 points with one round remaining.

Al Shahriar, one of the senior cricketers fined and stripped off captaincy during the club's reformation process, hammered his seventh half-century to inspire Sonargaon amass 282 for six in 50 overs after being put into bat.

Shahriar's 59 off 68 balls, which featured nine boundaries, not only steadied the side after early dismissals but also set a launching pad for significant knocks by Indian international Sridharan Sriram (53 off 55 balls), Anisur Rahman Sanchay (48 from 64 balls) and man-of-the-match Mohammad Salim, who smashed 70 not out in just 63 deliveries.

After the opening pair was separated with five runs on board, Mohammedan raced past the 100-mark before 14 overs with quickfire knocks from Sandeep Sharma (21 off 15 balls) and Aftab Ahmed (25 off 26 balls).

The local giants looked well set for a victory having crossed 200 mark with more than 15 overs remaining. However, the dismissal of skipper Habibul Bashar on the total of 206 saw Mohammedan lose their last half in the space of 36 runs.

National captain Bashar hit 58 off 81 balls before being caught by substitute Rafiqul Islam Khan off the bowling of his Sonargaon counterpart Mohammad Ashraful.

Ashraful's legbreaks got him three wickets for 31 from 4.5 overs and the national cricketer was elated after his side's second-place finish.

"I am happy because of the double success. We did it as a new team in the Premiership and I am also captaining a side for the first time," told Ashraful who cracked five boundaries in a 21-ball 25 in the Sonargaon innings.

"We played great cricket toward the end and we could have been in the title race had we started picking up a bit early.

"Everything we did was dramatic. It began from the transfer when we made a strong team but got off to a poor start. Then we bounced back. It was really exciting and extra ordinary," added Ashraful who won all eight matches after replacing Al Shahriar as captain.

In the day's other match, a 43-run last wicket partnership between Rubaiyat Haque (30) and Lablur Rahman (13) helped bottomers Brothers Union snatch a thrilling one-wicket victory over Victoria Sporting Club at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium.

Having dismissed Victoria for 195 with left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny bagging 5-41 from 10 overs, Brothers reached 197-9 in 44.1 overs with one-down Gazi Salahuddin topscoring with 49 with five fours and one six.